Alina Tenenbaum, a senior at Ladue Horton Watkins High School, recently spearheaded a Wheels to Africa bike drive. Alina and her father, along with the Ladue Community, generously donated over 80 bikes. 

The "Wheels to Africa" bike drive is a youth-led initiative (started by Winston Duncan) that collects used bicycles in the U.S., refurbishes them with volunteer help, and ships them to communities in Africa to empower people by providing transportation for education, healthcare, and accessing markets.

Alina first learned about the organization through a personal connection. “I heard about the program through James, one of my brother’s college roommates,” she shared. “During a weekend visit, he told me about his experience with Wheels to Africa and how he and his older brother were involved during middle and high school.”

Inspired by what she learned, Alina quickly felt called to take action. “I was motivated immediately after hearing about the cause and its effects,” she said. “I did some research, which helped me realize just how impactful this could be, and I was compelled to do my part.”

The bicycles collected during the recent drive will be sent to Liberia and other African nations, where they will provide safe transportation for schoolchildren and women while also helping to create local businesses to service and maintain the bikes.

Stephanie Bellville, Ladue Horton Watkins High School World and AP World History Teacher and Advocacy Group sponsor, stated, “We are extremely proud of Alina and the generous Ladue Community for creating such a successful bike drive. Special thanks to Alina's dad, who was our bike drive wingman, and to Dixie Duncan, who founded the Wheels to Africa organization–she is truly an angel!” 

Wheels to Africa volunteers—many of them teens—organize collection events, refurbish donated bikes, and help raise funds to ship them overseas. Once delivered, the bicycles become essential tools, helping students get to school, health workers reach patients, and families transport goods to market.

For Alina, the drive was about more than collecting bikes—it was about understanding the world beyond her own experience and taking action to make a difference. “I think it’s important to know what’s happening in countries outside of our own,” she said. “People live very different lives, and when we’re given the opportunity to help, even in a small way, it can have a meaningful impact.”

Through her leadership and the generosity of the Ladue community, Alina helped turn compassion into action—putting wheels in motion that will support education, health, and opportunity for communities thousands of miles away.