Brookline Teens to Bike to New York City, Raise Funds for The Boston House

Brookline High School seniors Aarav Jadhav and Jakub Paul are preparing for a three-day bike ride from Brookline to Times Square in New York City. The students aim to raise $10,000 for The Boston House, a nonprofit supporting families of children with cancer.

Together, the two teens have crafted a detailed plan for their upcoming ride to New York City. The work has included mapping the route, securing lodging, managing their marketing outreach, and organizing fundraising efforts through the website Ride for Hope and social media. They have already raised nearly $4,000.

Jadhav, who is new to biking, and Paul, an experienced cyclist, started their fundraising journey last year with encouragement from Paul Epstein, a social worker at their high school and outdoor adventure club leader. Epstein also connected them with The Boston House.

Last spring, the students completed a two-day bike ride from Brookline to Provincetown, raising more than $2,500 for The Boston House.

Since last spring, Jadhav and Paul have been actively volunteering at The Boston House, including cooking family dinners and fundraising. Both are motivated to support the nonprofit by reflecting on their own immigrant backgrounds and on what it means to be far from home.

Later this month, Jadhav and Paul will set out on their ride, joined by Epstein, Paul's father, and one of their friends. Motivated by the positive impact they've seen, the students said they hope to continue supporting The Boston House.

“You don't really see too often two high schoolers doing something like this,” Jadhav said in a statement shared with Brookline.News. “Sometimes it can be hard to get people to trust you, but I think we proved we're no joke. We're legit, and we want to do this.”

“It gives you hope for the future,” said Mike Emerman, a co-executive director of The Boston House, in comments shared with Brookline.News. “If the high schools are churning out kids like this, I think we're in really good shape moving forward.”