Jerry Kraynick is looking for several hundred "gently used" bikes for children ages 3 to 12.

Kraynick, the owner of Kraynick's Bike Shop in Garfield, also is looking for some professional and amateur bicycle mechanics -- "as many as [he] can get" -- to help him inspect and repair each bike and make it ready for the annual Bike Before Christmas program.

And Pittsburgh police officer Melissa Gutch is looking for new bike helmets for some of the young recipients of the refurbished bicycles.

"We are about 70 helmets short of where we need to be," said Gutch, co-director with Kraynick of the Bike Before Christmas program.

"If anyone would like to donate never-used children's helmets that are still in their original shipping boxes, we'd be happy to accept them."

The program, now in its sixth year, begins today. It is a team effort by Gutch and her fellow officers, Kraynick and his group of volunteers and the public to provide bicycles to children whose families cannot afford to buy them new ones.

"We couldn't do it without the public's help," Gutch said. "Their donations of bikes that are in good working condition or just need minor repairs or a tune-up have brightened the holidays for more than 1,100 youngsters."

She said children who receive the bikes must be enrolled in an after-school program.

"Once an after-school program identifies a child whose family can't afford to give them a bike, we will take it from there," Gutch said.

The children receive the bikes about a week before Christmas.

The program began in the fall of 2004 when Officer Kevin McNamara from the East Liberty police station told Kraynick there were some unclaimed bikes at the station and asked if he could "tune them up" so they could be given as Christmas presidents to underprivileged children.

Kraynick repaired 40 bikes that first year; he and a group of multitalented volunteer bike mechanics fixed more than 400 last year.

If there's a child's bike in good condition that isn't being used anymore, it can be taken to Kraynick's bike shop at 5003 Penn Ave., Garfield, during the following hours: 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays except Wednesday and from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. His number is 412-621-6160.

Bicycles also can be dropped off at the city's six police stations.

Zone 1, 1501 Brighton Road, North Side; Zone 2, 2000 Centre Ave., Hill District; Zone 3, 1725 Mary St., South Side; Zone 4, 5858 Northumberland St., Squirrel Hill; Zone 5, 1401 Washington Blvd., East Liberty; and Zone 6, 312 S. Main St., West End.

Gutch asked the public to notify her via e-mail at melissa.gutch@city.pittsburgh.pa.us before making a large donation of bikes. The deadline for such donations is Dec. 1 so there is time to inspect and repair each one. Dec. 15 is the last day to donate bikes.

Hinkel-Hoffman distributors on the North Side donates space to store the bikes after they have been tuned up.

If a donated bike can't be repaired, Kraynick salvages any usable parts. If a bike is too big for a child, he repairs it and sells it to buy parts he needs for the children's bikes.

"I was able to get a head start on the program this year, thanks to the police who dropped off two dozen bikes a few weeks ago," Kraynick said Friday. "When I finished those, they picked them up and dropped off some more.

"I hope we can repair and help the police give away even more bikes away this year. Every child should have a bike."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.