Michael Reed, an Eagle Scout candidate from Boy Scout Troop 88 in Parker, is asking for your help to make Christmas a little merrier for disadvantaged children and adults in the Parker and the Denver metro area. For his Eagle Scout project, Michael and his fellow scouts are collecting donated bicycles in reasonably good condition, repairing them and then distributing them at the 19th annual Christmas Party hosted by Praying Hands Ranch and the Parker firefighters on Dec. 9. If you are interested in contributing to this project, please drop off your bicycles (and helmets) at any Parker fire station anytime between now and Dec. 7.

Praying Hands Ranches is a nonprofit organization, located in Parker, committed to serving the needs of the physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped in a country setting with horseback riding therapy, a petting farm and horticultural therapy. Praying Hands Ranches serves clients of all ages. The riding and horticultural activities benefit gross motor coordination, fine motor coordination, eye-hand coordination and tactile and spatial relations.

The annual Christmas party helps teach Praying Hands Ranches (PHR) clients about giving back to others. While many of the PHR clients will not be able to directly use the bicycles, PHR clients invite disadvantaged children from the Parker area as well as the greater Denver metro area to share in their Christmas party. The direct recipients of the bicycles are referred to PHR by the Salvation Army, Goodwill, area battered women shelters, homeless shelters, and Whiz Kids, an organization to tutor inner city kids.

When Michael started looking for an Eagle Scout project, he wanted to find a project that would help people in his community and meant something to him and the people who benefited from the project. He also thinks every kid should have a bicycle. So when Shirley Hanson, the director at PHR called and told him about this project he knew this was the one he wanted to do. He is looking forward to seeing the smiling faces of the kids as they run outside and pick out their very own bicycle.