Last month, 11-year-old Dylan Leder of Lincoln Square was on her way to ballet class when she saw three masked crooks snap the chain on a blue Yamaha MT-O7 2020 parked in front of her apartment.
The criminals took off with the bike and, despite swift action from authorities, police couldn’t catch the perpetrators, or retrieve the bike.
The next day, Leder discovered that the bike belonged to her favorite doorman at the Waterline Square Condominiums on West 61st Street, a 20-year-old named Nazar, who immigrated to the United States from Ukraine as a young kid.
Owning a motorcycle had always been Nazar’s dream. After saving up enough money, Leder’s family said the newlywed, who lives in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, was finally able to fulfill his dream 10 months ago. With better weather around the corner, the hardworking doorman was excited to take “his baby” on the road and to work, but with the bike still missing, he has to rely on his brother for a ride to and from his job in Manhattan.
“[Nazar] loved [the bike] so much, and he was so sad when it was gone,” Leder said. “I knew that I had to do something about it because it wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t okay.”
As it turns out, the young philanthropist with a big heart is no stranger to fundraisers. In 2016, she held a bake sale for the Fabien Cousteau Ocean Learning Center, which raised $1,000 in less than an hour.
“That popped into my head right away, and I was like, ‘That’s a good idea because you could raise a lot of money in a short period of time,'” she said.
Leder soon solicited the help of her friend Catharina Capps, marketing manager at Harry’s Table by Cipriani in Waterline Square Park. The two brainstormed and came up with the idea to create a GoFundMe and hold a bake sale in Waterline Square Park on May 6 to raise money and surprise Nazar with a new bike. Harry’s Table by Cipriani supported their endeavor and didn’t hesitate to donate the baked goods.
Capps, who also lives at Waterline Square, shared that everyone loves Nazar because he’s always helpful.
“My boyfriend lost his backpack here a few weeks ago. He took care of it and saved it,” Capps said. “He’s a very sweet human being, a very good person.”
Leder drummed up support from her friends Marlo Dronsick, Connor Provost, and Sophie Becker
Dronsick, 10, said she knew she had to help Leder once she told her about the fundraiser.
“Dylan has always been a caring person,” Dronsick said. “She loves looking out for her community.”
The crew sold cookies and lemonade in return for a donation at the amount of the donor’s discretion. Leder and Dronsick went up to park revelers with a flier with a GoFundMe QR Code and a photo of Nazar, which the young fundraiser had created and printed at school.
Kerry O’Neill comes to the park often but only learned of the bike theft when Leder told her about the fundraiser.
“It’s very sweet,” O’Neill, who donated to the good cause, said. “I’m impressed with the young girl taking so much initiative and helping the community.”
Leder’s mom and friends aren’t surprised that she stepped up to help because the School of American Ballet student always cares for others. Her mom, Lisa Singer, said she taught her daughter about charity and philanthropy from a young age.
Singer had been unaware that her daughter was organizing the fundraiser. She only learned of her daughter’s good deed a few days ago when she had created the GoFundMe account since Leder is too young to set one up herself.
“She has a really empathetic heart, and she’s always trying to do for others before she does for herself,” Singer said. “So this doesn’t surprise me that she took this on completely by herself.”
A man named Michael, who withheld his last name, stopped by the bake sale with his daughter, Olivia. Oliva and Leder have been friends since they were six months old.
“This is the kind of kid she is,” Michael said. “It didn’t surprise us at all.”
So far, Leder has raised over $6,800 toward an $8,500 goal. To help her present her favorite doorman with a new bike, visit her GoFundMe.
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