The Michigan City Police Department is proud to announce the donation of new and pre-loved bicycles back to the community.
Through a program spearheaded by Chief Mark Swistek, he felt that a lot of our “Found Property” bicycles should get back into the community in which we serve. This is when he reached out to Indiana State Prison Superintendent Ron Neal for assistance with this program. Superintendent Neal then took on the challenge of taking our bicycles to the prison and with the help of some dedicated inmates the process began. The inmates then began going through each of the bicycles fixing flats, checking gears, replacing pedals etc., until the bikes were brought back to life. Additionally the Police partnered with our local Walmart which donates bicycles throughout the year to our outreach projects. Walmart then graciously donated some returned bicycles to this worthwhile program.
Next of course was finding the right source to distribute the bikes back into our community. Chief Swistek reached out to Detective Marty Corley who serves as a board member at our local Boys and Girls Club and then to Councilperson Candice Silvas from the Salvation Army. With the help of both of these organizations they will distribute these bikes this Holiday Season to youngsters in our community!