Why All Students at LeBron James's New School Are Getting Free Bikes

James's family didn't have a car when he was growing up, so he rode his bike everywhere.

LeBron James understands the freedom that a child can get from owning a bicycle.

After opening his I Promise School this week in Akron for at-risk children, James is making sure that the students have more than just school supplies. Each of the 240 students at the I Promise School will receive a Huffy bicycle and helmet.

Making bicycles available to children is also a large focus of the LeBron James Family Foundation's outreach program because James rode his bike so much as a child, according to Bicycling.

"LeBron’s bike gave him the mobility he needed to get to safe places after school like basketball courts and community centers,” Michele Campbell, executive director of the LeBron James Family Foundation told Bicycling in an e-mail. “Those two wheels gave him access to opportunities and resources he couldn’t have gotten otherwise.”

"It’s important to LeBron that his students receive bikes because he knows how much he needed his when he was growing up. His family didn’t have a car, so if he wanted to get anywhere, he had to ride,” said Campbell. “It allowed him to stay safe and out of harm’s way. That’s what LeBron hopes his kids will get out of these bikes."

James also started the Wheels for Education program in 2011, where third graders in Akron public schools receive bikes and helmets.

Downtown Akron's Summitt Cycling Center and the Bike Kitchen also has an arrangement with the I Promise School for students to bring their bikes there to be fixed and maintained.