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For 17 years, Pioneer Waterproofing of Tigard has bought new bicycles and given them to kids at Christmas, and it’s a labor of love, company owner Michael Crawford said.

鈥淲e don’t do it for the publicity, and for us it’s just a good thing to do,鈥� he said.

Every year since 1998, the company has bought hundreds of disassembled bicycles from K-Mart and Pioneer employees have put them together. The bikes are then distributed by KGW-TV employees.

Crawford said this year his employees delivered 340 newly assembled bikes to the television station on Dec. 16.

鈥淭hey all come in boxes and our crew comes in and puts them together and makes sure all the tires are (inflated),鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen we load them up and take them (to KGW) in three big trucks.鈥�

Crawford said he decided to get new bicycles for kids who can’t afford them because those higher-priced items aren’t often donated in toy drives.

But nearly everyone has a memory of a bike they had (or wanted) as a child, Crawford said, so he decided that was a good thing to encourage.

鈥淎nybody I ever asked if you remember your bike as a kid, everybody does,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o I thought it would be better if we bought something more expensive and that will become a memory.鈥�

The bikes come in all shapes and sizes, Crawford said, from little ones with training wheels to teenager-size mountain bikes. At an average cost of $50 per bike, he estimates his company has invested well over $100,000 to give needy Portland kids new bicycles.

鈥淚t’s a tradition that everybody feels good about,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he crew and everybody start bugging me in October to make sure we’re going to do it, the K-Mart people call, the Channel 8 people call and it gets everybody in the holiday spirit.