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For Cliff Ulman, bicycles represent freedom.

The 44-year-old Crown Point native started Give a Bike-Get a Smile, and made it his personal mission to get bikes into the hands of people who need them.

“I received a bike from him last spring, said Lowell resident Vicki Brown. “I was down on my luck and my car had been repossessed. He’s the nicest man I’ve ever met.”

Ulman gives bikes to kids, adults with special needs or the elderly who find themselves without a mode of transportation, among others.

He even uses money out of his own pocket to purchase the parts needed make repairs, and sometimes the bikes themselves.

“I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the kindness of the bike donors.”

Giving bikes to children is especially close to Ulaman’s heart.

“Kids are innocent, they are the future, and they deserve opportunities,” Ulman said.

“Cliff helped me get a couple neighborhood kids bikes,” said Cedar Lake’s Sarah Huffer. “He's an awesome guy doing a wonderful thing for these children. All kids should have their own bikes and he's helping to make that happen.”