VIDALIA — As December creeps nearer, the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office has begun the big push for its annual bicycles for Christmas campaign.

CPSO Public Relations Officer Vernon Stevens said the program asks for used bicycles and other wheeled toys to refurbish and be given to less fortunate children in the parish.

Stevens said people can come to the sheriff’s office in December and put in an application for a wheeled toy, filling out the child’s name and age. Stevens said ages range from toddlers to approximately 17 years old.

Once the bikes, tricycles and other wheeled toys, are donated, Stevens said, inmates work to paint and repair the bikes.

“The inmates, they love working on it,” Stevens said. “It gives them something creative to do. It makes them feel like they’re helping somebody.”

Even though some of the bikes that were donated in the past were 10 to 15 years old, Stevens said they came out looking as good as new once the inmates worked on them.

“You’d be surprised what some of these bikes are like when they’re brought in and what they look like when they’re ready to go out to the children,” Stevens said.

Bicycles aren’t the only things people can donate, though.

“People who don’t have a bicycle and they want to participate, they can donate cash, and the sheriff will take that and put it in the bicycle fund,” Stevens said.

The money will then be used to buy paint and parts to refurbish the bicycles.

When newly refurbished bicycles are ready, families can come and pick them up the week before Christmas.

Last year, 291 wheeled toys were donated to the program. This year, Stevens said Sheriff Kenneth Hedrick is hoping to raise that number to 300.

“It’s just a good a program for the children that are less fortunate,” Stevens said.

Anyone interested in donating should bring donations to the garage at the back of the Concordia Parish Courthouse. Checks should be made out to the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office Bicycle Fund and can be mailed to the sheriff’s office 4001 Carter St. Room 7, Vidalia.

Stevens said the application period ends around Dec. 20. For more information, the sheriff’s office can be reached at 318-336-5231.