FARMINGTON – Bicycle helmets will be provided free or at low cost to children in Franklin County from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 28, at the Farmington UnitedKingfield Bank in Hannaford Plaza.

Thanks in part to support from the bank, Healthy Community Coalition’s Mobile Health Unit crew will be there to fit and distribute new helmets and to provide safety checks on old helmets.

Gordon Flint, UnitedKingfield’s regional vice president in the Commercial Loan Office in Farmington, has worked with registered nurse Sandy Richard, Mobile Health Unit manager for the coalition, to support their program to promote Maine’s bike safety law and to educate children about the importance of wearing a helmet that fits.

The Maine bicycle safety law requires that “anyone under the age of 16 operating a bicycle, or riding in a bike seat or trailer must wear a properly-fitting bicycle helmet.”

As part of the program, the coalition’s Mobile Health Unit will visit festivals, fairs, recreation programs and other public events throughout the county over the summer to distribute helmets. Children who are eligible for free school lunches receive free helmets. The cost is $7 for all others and $6 for those who present their Franklin Memorial Hospital health card.

Richard and other coalition members also provide free fit checks and repairs for children’s helmets. Richard recommends that helmets should be worn with straps snug around the ears and head, with just a finger’s width under the chin strap.

She said, “To fit a helmet properly, remember: eyes, ears, mouth. When your eyes look up, you should see the helmet. Straps should make a ‘V’ under the ears, and when you open your mouth, you should feel the helmet pull down. We hear stories every day about how wearing a helmet has saved a child.”

For more information call Nate Morse or the Healthy Community Coalition at 1-800-525-3136, extension 5108.

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