FARGO (AP) - Two 12-year-old girls here have spent the summer delivering meals on two wheels.

Laura Schott and Miranda Smith are believed to be the youngest volunteers in the Meals on Wheels program - and the first to deliver food to elderly and homebound residents by bicycle.

"We've had high-schoolers and college students, but this is unique," said Brian Arett, executive director of the Fargo Senior Commission, which runs the program.

Meals on Wheels, which was started here in 1972, delivers daily meals to about 225 people. Most of them are over 60 who are shut-ins or unable to prepare meals for themselves.

The girls have a 30-minute route that takes them within four blocks of their homes.

"It's fun," Miranda said. "We'll keeping doing it throughout the summer, and maybe next summer, too."

The girls decided to volunteer for the job after a suggestion from Miranda's father, Tom.

"Brian had mentioned there was a need for volunteers in our neighborhood," Tom Smith said. "It took a little bit of cajoling in the beginning, but they went for it and have been doing it ever since."

The girls load up the food in a child cart that attaches to the bikes. It's the same cart that was used to transport Miranda across South America when she was younger, her dad said.

"That cart is as old as she is," said Smith, who runs a bike shop in Fargo.

The weekly route teaches the girls more than just volunteerism, Smith said.

"They've got the responsibility to make sure these folks have food on the table," he said. "And they're meeting their neighbors and interacting with people outside of their peer group.

"It's got a lot of positive aspects."