Brandon Druzak is pictured sitting on a bike identical to the one he will soon have at home. Behind him, left to right, are: Nicole Braun, multi-disabled support teacher at DAHS; Daniel Hodgdon, Penn State OTA student; Steven Druzak, Brandon's father; PSU OTA students Katie Armagost, Hannah Schatz, and Brittany Auman; and OTA instructor Amy Fatula.
Honors students in the Penn State DuBois Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program have contributed funds to help a special area boy purchase the bicycle of his dreams. The students donated $408 on Thursday to 16-year-old Brandon Druzak of DuBois, Pennsylvania, and his father, Steven. Brandon lives with cerebral palsy, and requires a specially built bicycle in order to ride. The bike costs around $1,000 total.
Brandon is a student at DuBois Area High School, where he was first introduced to a specialized three-wheeled bike owned by the school. He enjoys riding the bike at school each day, and his parents decided they would like for him to have one of his own at home, as well. The money donated by the Penn State DuBois students will help make that wish come true. The OTA honors students and the Occupational Therapy Club held fundraisers throughout the academic year for the cause.
The honors students got to know Brandon through their observational hours working with special needs students at the high school, and upon hearing of Brandon's wish for his own bike, decided to help make his wish come true.