FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Police Group Donates Bike Helmets to School

Alicia Bleecker, an eighth-grader at Harry C. Fulton Middle School, lives two miles from campus and depends on her bicycle to get her there.

When she went to get her bike after school recently, she discovered that someone had taken her bike helmet and smashed it to pieces on the street.

Because California law requires youngsters under 18 to wear helmets while cycling, Alicia had been walking to school--until the Fountain Valley Police Officers Assn. came to her assistance.

The organization this week donated 60 bicycle helmets to the Fountain Valley School District for students at the district’s 11 schools. Alicia, 13, was among the recipients.

“I just think it’s really nice. It’s probably a lot better than my old helmet,” Alicia said. A new helmet was not something that her family had included in its holiday budget, she said.

The helmets are being given to students who cannot afford them as well as to those like Alicia with special circumstances.

Officer Eric Orahood, vice president of the association, said that the group started a helmet campaign because many youngsters being cited for not wearing helmets said they could not afford them. Safety too was a consideration, he said.

“Our feeling is, if we can prevent one kid from going to the hospital, then what we spent on all 60 helmets is worth it,” Orahood said.

Fountain Valley officers made personal donations, he said, and the association then put up an equal amount, bringing the total to about $600.