Rose-Hulman Students Assemble Holiday Magic at 27th Annual CASY Bikes for Tykes
Tuesday, December 09, 2025
240 Rose-Hulman student volunteers created a winter wonderland of holiday magic, assembling more than 230 bikes for local children during the 27th annual Bikes For Tykes service project with Chances and Services for Youth.
Laughter filled the air on Sunday, December 7, as Rose-Hulman's Sports & Recreation Center transformed into a merry makerspace for the Chances and Services for Youth (CASY) organization's 27th annual Bikes for Tykes community service project. More than 240 Rose-Hulman student volunteers assembled and inspected over 230 bikes for local children across 19 schools in need of some holiday magic.
Students representing 37 different organizations — including fraternities and sororities, residence hall groups, athletic teams, and professional societies — shifted into gear to use their skills to give back to the community. Some students, including Pi Kappa Alpha member and first-year mechanical engineering major Greyson Chamoun, were so passionate about the impact of the event that they brought their personal toolsets to aid in assembly.
"It's just one of the best days of the year for everybody," said Daniel Allen, a sophomore studying civil engineering, who recalled receiving his own childhood bicycle as a gift. "To receive a gift that's a way to travel around or have fun with your friends in the neighborhood….it feels really great to be able to give that."
Emilee Roberts, director of strategy and impact at CASY, cherishes Bikes for Tykes as one of her favorite events throughout the year.
"CASY is all about community collaboration, so to be able to come here to Rose-Hulman and do this year after year is just really special for us, and we are so grateful for it," Roberts said. "The Rose-Hulman students are just so special, and you can tell they care about the community. They take this job seriously, but they're also having fun."
Throughout the morning, students chatted cheerfully with their friends as they aligned handlebars and saddle seats, sometimes casting glances between the spokes of bicycle tires at a Formula 1 race playing from a phone. Completed bicycles whizzed through the Fieldhouse, as mechanically-minded students, including members of the Human-Powered Vehicle Team, tested the brakes, gear shifts, and tire pressure on each bike. Rows of approved bikes neatly ringed the arena, gleaming proudly while awaiting their future homes.
"It's a direct and immediate cause," said senior mechanical engineering major William Geoghegan. "It's great to give back to all of the students and kids who live around Terre Haute and do a good thing for the community using our skills as engineers."
Teams often found themselves applying elements of their Rose-Hulman experiences for the cause. Geoghegan worked with students from the Noblitt Scholars Program, including several who are also involved in Rose-Hulman's Mountain Biking Club and used their expertise to expedite assembly of a 26" mountain bike. Allen's team of fraternity brothers from Rose-Hulman's Triangle chapter noticed that the brakes on a bike they had assembled were not working properly and took special care to adjust the bolts and assembly to fix the issue, relying on parts knowledge from mechanical engineering courses. A few tables away, Kaylee Finkelstein, a sophomore civil engineering major, found herself thinking back to her technical communication course as she noted how she would have written the bicycles' manuals to be clearer and more intuitive, making mental observations to use later in her career.
Though Finkelstein herself did not know how to ride a bike, she quickly found the key to providing that experience for other kids.
"Working together as a team is really big in engineering and also in this bike process," she said. She worked alongside her Chi Omega sorority sisters to assemble a shiny blue bike, with metallic hearts dotting the frame and silver streamers dancing from the pink handlebars.
Jeffrey White, a sophomore chemical engineering major, also loved that building the bikes worked in tandem with his skillsets. "We love putting things together, so this is almost tailor-made for us," he laughed. He believes deeply in serving his community however he can.
"I just really like paying it forward if I have the ability to do so," White said. "We've got to help each other out to get through life."
Chances and Services for Youth aims to do just that, giving children a strong foundation for life by serving them "from cradle to college." The organization works with Vigo County School Corporation elementary and middle schools, along with community groups and individuals, to designate children to receive the assembled bicycles, as well as a helmet from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Students representing 37 different organizations — including fraternities and sororities, residence hall groups, athletic teams, and professional societies — shifted into gear to use their skills to give back to the community. Some students, including Pi Kappa Alpha member and first-year mechanical engineering major Greyson Chamoun, were so passionate about the impact of the event that they brought their personal toolsets to aid in assembly.
"It's just one of the best days of the year for everybody," said Daniel Allen, a sophomore studying civil engineering, who recalled receiving his own childhood bicycle as a gift. "To receive a gift that's a way to travel around or have fun with your friends in the neighborhood….it feels really great to be able to give that."
Emilee Roberts, director of strategy and impact at CASY, cherishes Bikes for Tykes as one of her favorite events throughout the year.
"CASY is all about community collaboration, so to be able to come here to Rose-Hulman and do this year after year is just really special for us, and we are so grateful for it," Roberts said. "The Rose-Hulman students are just so special, and you can tell they care about the community. They take this job seriously, but they're also having fun."
Throughout the morning, students chatted cheerfully with their friends as they aligned handlebars and saddle seats, sometimes casting glances between the spokes of bicycle tires at a Formula 1 race playing from a phone. Completed bicycles whizzed through the Fieldhouse, as mechanically-minded students, including members of the Human-Powered Vehicle Team, tested the brakes, gear shifts, and tire pressure on each bike. Rows of approved bikes neatly ringed the arena, gleaming proudly while awaiting their future homes.
"It's a direct and immediate cause," said senior mechanical engineering major William Geoghegan. "It's great to give back to all of the students and kids who live around Terre Haute and do a good thing for the community using our skills as engineers."
Teams often found themselves applying elements of their Rose-Hulman experiences for the cause. Geoghegan worked with students from the Noblitt Scholars Program, including several who are also involved in Rose-Hulman's Mountain Biking Club and used their expertise to expedite assembly of a 26" mountain bike. Allen's team of fraternity brothers from Rose-Hulman's Triangle chapter noticed that the brakes on a bike they had assembled were not working properly and took special care to adjust the bolts and assembly to fix the issue, relying on parts knowledge from mechanical engineering courses. A few tables away, Kaylee Finkelstein, a sophomore civil engineering major, found herself thinking back to her technical communication course as she noted how she would have written the bicycles' manuals to be clearer and more intuitive, making mental observations to use later in her career.
Though Finkelstein herself did not know how to ride a bike, she quickly found the key to providing that experience for other kids.
"Working together as a team is really big in engineering and also in this bike process," she said. She worked alongside her Chi Omega sorority sisters to assemble a shiny blue bike, with metallic hearts dotting the frame and silver streamers dancing from the pink handlebars.
Jeffrey White, a sophomore chemical engineering major, also loved that building the bikes worked in tandem with his skillsets. "We love putting things together, so this is almost tailor-made for us," he laughed. He believes deeply in serving his community however he can.
"I just really like paying it forward if I have the ability to do so," White said. "We've got to help each other out to get through life."
Chances and Services for Youth aims to do just that, giving children a strong foundation for life by serving them "from cradle to college." The organization works with Vigo County School Corporation elementary and middle schools, along with community groups and individuals, to designate children to receive the assembled bicycles, as well as a helmet from the Indiana Department of Transportation.