Dom Pecora

FIXING BIKES, CHANGING LIVES

- Jaime Joyce

By the time Dominick Pecora was 10 years old, he'd broken and repaired his bicycle many times. He thought it made sense to upgrade to something sturdier, so he went to his mom with a big ask: "I wanted a really nice, expensive mountain bike," Dom, now 15, says.

His mom said no. But she did offer to help him raise the funds to buy the bike himself. Dom figured he could earn money by fixing bikes, a skill he'd honed by watching YouTube videos. His mom set up a Facebook page-Dom Fixes Bikes― to spread the word about his services. "We had a kind of paywhat-you-want theme," Dom recalls.

Eventually, he was able to purchase his dream bike. He also had enough money left over to surprise six other kids with brand-new bikes for Christmas. That was in 2020, during the pandemic. After that, "I just continued to do it," Dom says.