Maine business recognized by police for helping teens
By Jamie Azulay
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WESTBROOK, Maine (WMTW) — Ernie’s Cycle Shop has a stock of bicycles for a wide range of prices. It sells some used bikes for a couple hundred dollars, and some of its new bikes are nearly $6,000, but the shop’s co-owner, Bruce Wallingford, estimates it has given away 30 bikes for free since January 2024.
That generosity earned Ernie’s Cycle Shop a community policing award from the Westbrook Police Department. A social media post about the award says, “They were honored for their initiative in creating a program to get bicycles to school children who need them. This is a program that is still going strong.”
The Westbrook Bicycle Project started that winter in 2024 when Westbrook High School’s resource officer Brett Morava became aware of a student who was in need of a bicycle to get to and from school but could not afford to buy one. Morava reached out to Ernie’s Cycle Shop for some help.
In an interview with Maine’s Total Coverage at the time, he explained, “I said, ‘Is there any way you guys can help us, maybe donating a bike, so this poor child can get back and forth to school?'”
Bruce and his wife, Sylvia Wallingford, were happy to help, and they took that one moment as inspiration for the Westbrook Bicycle Project. Sylvia wants to help as many kids as possible.
Bruce said, “It just gives them freedom. It gives them the ability to move around without having to ask their parents for a ride. You know, when I learned how to ride, it felt like I was flying.”
The bicycles are donated to the shop and then carefully selected for students in need. Those teenagers get a bike and lessons on basic mechanical skills. The Ernie’s Cycle Shop staff now works with the school in and out of the classroom. The staff teach a class during the school day and stick around to help tune up and hand out bikes after school, too.
“We show them each step of the process of the regular maintenance and then what to do if you get a flat, what to do if your brakes are rubbing,” said Morgan Mulkern, an employee at the shop and co-director of the Westbrook Bicycle Project. “If they can figure out how to fix something of their own without having to pay somebody to fix it, I think that’s a really important skill to have.”
Ernie’s Cycle Shop works in partnership with Westbrook High School, but Bruce Wallingford feels the community support has played a big part in their success.
He said, “It’s just a big effort of everybody doing part of it. It’s not just one person. It’s not just us. It’s all of us.”
Through donations of bicycles, money and materials, the community has come together to support the bicycle project, which, in turn, is keeping teenagers active and healthy.
Dr. Carrie Gordon is a pediatrician who lives in Westbrook. Her work is focused on childhood obesity. She said, “Incorporating physical activity in your life on a regular basis will help prevent health problems if it’s a long-term thing. I think finding an activity that you enjoy is what’s key, and if a child enjoys riding a bike, then they’re much more apt to do that long-term.”
Ernie’s Cycle Shop is always accepting donations to help the program grow. Donated bicycles that are not a good match for the students will be sold in the shop, with proceeds going directly to the bicycle project.
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