COLUMBIA, MD — Howard County residents are encouraged to donate gently used bicycles appropriate for kids in preschool through high school as part of Free Bikes 4 Kidz Maryland . The bicycles to be collected will be refurbished by volunteers and then given to kids in need in December.

So far, Free Bikes 4 Kidz has almost a dozen independent affiliates and distributed more than 70,000 bicycles since 2008. The Maryland organization is launching its first season with a collection drive on Oct. 5. Bikes can be dropped off at any Howard County fire station between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Organizers hope to collect 1,000 bikes that day.

"Howard County is by some measures one of the wealthiest counties in the country, yet almost a quarter of families here are hard-pressed to afford bicycles for their kids," said FB4K Maryland's president Dr. Ted Cochran, who grew up in Howard County. "We want to do something about that. A bicycle is a kid's first ticket to explore the world. It gets them started on a path to an active, healthy life."