Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Mt. Pleasant Elementary School children, some accompanied by a parent, try out different size bicycles that real estate development firm Brady Sullivan Properties donated as part of its New England-wide holiday season bike distribution program that assists families that may not be able to afford a bicycle.

NASHUA – Fifty Mt. Pleasant Elementary School kids, some accompanied by a parent, filed into the school’s all-purpose room Friday afternoon and sat, as directed, in groups on the floor.

Their collective attention, however, was, understandably, less on the brief comments made by Principal Richard Boardman, Mayor Jim Donchess and Brady Sullivan Properties’ representative Chris Lewis than on the shiny, brand-new bicycles parked at the other end of the room.

A few minutes later, as a visiting singer-guitarist began setting up his equipment for a last-day-of-school-before-winter-break sing along, Boardman gave the signal, and within seconds the 50 Mt. Pleasant kids chosen to receive a new bike were searching the assemblage eagerly for the one they liked the best.

Lewis, who was accompanied by several other representatives of Brady Sullivan’s architecture group, said the Mt. Pleasant stop was one of many that teams of volunteers carried out in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island over several days leading up to Christmas.

All told, Brady Sullivan donated 1,000 bikes to lower income children throughout the three states, a project that Kim Brady described as “an enormous team effort that incorporates Brady Sullivan staff from every department within the organization.”

Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP Bethany Lacen, a third-grader at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School, is all smiles as her mom, Nicole Meehan, takes her photo on the new bicycle she elected on Friday. Brittany was one of 50 children who received bicycles as part of a holiday-season program organized by Brady Sullivan Properties.

The bike-donation project focuses on areas where Brady Sullivan has, or is in the process of, developing properties, which creates “a wonderful opportunity for our … team to participate in giving back to the friends and neighbors who mean so much to us,” Kim Brady said.

The smiles on the youthful recipients’ faces, she added, “makes it all worth it.”

In Nashua, Harbor Homes and the Nashua Childrens Home benefit from the bike donation program.

Others in New Hampshire include Easterseals of New Hampshire, Girls Inc., Moore Center, Webster House, Police Athletic League and Hope NH, all in Manchester; The Cary House and the Belknap House in Laconia; the Spaulding Youth Center in Northfield; and the Keene Housing Kids Collaborative.

Brady Sullivan representatives said they purchase the bikes at the Wal-Mart store on Gold Street in Manchester, and when they arrive, Wal-Mart employees get together and assemble them.

On Friday, meanwhile, Mt. Pleasant was one of several locations where bike deliveries took place.

In Manchester, Mayor Joyce Craig and Arthur Sullivan, with assistance from police officers, unloaded a truck full of bikes at the Manchester Police Athletic League, while another team delivered bikes to the Webster House.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter