The COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic facing the country is having a profound impact on the economy and has greatly expanded the need for charitable organizations to provide additional services in an unprecedented manner. Individual charities already have lost millions of dollars in revenue and an economic downturn will undoubtedly result in further contraction in resources that are the lifeblood of mission-driven organizations.

Non-profits are an integral part of Utah’s social fabric and economic vitality. Our organizations serve and touch nearly all Utahns including our most vulnerable populations.  We serve children, adults and families, people with disabilities and of all backgrounds and orientations. 

Accepting Donations of Bicycles and Parts

20 April 2020

After a challenging month, we have made significant steps to re-starting our operations to fulfill our mission of getting people on bikes.  On March 30, we started selling bikes and parts on line and by appointment. The following week we began offering repair services at our locations.  We are now ready to once again accept donations of bikes, parts and accessories (i.e, trainers, racks, etc). We would love to give your old bike a second life or strip it for parts.  We recycle what is not usable or worth repairing. 

Here is the protocol for bringing in donations. 

Please call or email the shop at which you would like to make the donation to set up a time. 

• Salt Lake City Shop - 801-328-2453 | 
• Provo Shop - 801-210-9032 | 
• Ogden Shop - 801-997-0336 | 
• St. George Shop - 435-574-9304 | 

We greatly appreciate you washing the bike down with soap and water.  Please do the same for parts. 

When you arrive at the shop, please wear a face mask and gloves.  We will do the same. If you would like a receipt for the donation, please provide either an email address or phone number for us to send the receipt. 

We are taking things slowly with much caution and compassion.  Please be patient and flexible with us as it may take us a day or two to respond to your email or phone call as we are handling many requests.

We are humbled by and extremely grateful for the health care professionals, farmers, grocery store workers, delivery people, public servants and many others who are working their hardest right now.  

Thank you.

Wash Hands, Stay Safe and Get Outside and Ride.

The Bicycle Collective is offering appointments so anyone can buy a bike, parts, or get help with that tricky mechanical problem.

30 March 2020

During these times where our lives are uprooted, we seek normalcy. This pandemic is hitting our most vulnerable the hardest. The Collective is eager to serve our customers and clients in this time of uncertainty and change. I’d like to introduce our new online- and by-appointment sales options! These measures will help us protect public health while allowing shop operations to continue. We want to be available to safely serve the community, especially with how crucial bikes are to maintaining all of our health and sanity. And as an effective form of transportation and mobility that naturally promotes social distancing.

BIKE SALES

Do you need a bike? Know someone who does? Starting today we are available to sell bikes by appointment. Here’s how easy it is:

• Browse our selection of refurbished on our various Instagram accounts and on our website. Make sure to note the make and model of the bike you’re interested in and we’ll set up a time that’s convenient for both of us so you can test it out.
• Set up an appointment for a test ride Mon-Sat from 12-7p by contacting us at our four locations by phone, email or social media:
  •  Salt Lake City Shop - 801-328-2453 |
  •  Provo Shop - 801-210-9032 | 
  • Ogden Shop - 801-997-0336 | 
  • St. George Shop - 435-574-9304 | 
  • Message us on Instagram
  • Message our Facebook pages
  • Book directly on our Appointments site 

• When you get to the shop, please ring the doorbell. We’ll set aside 20 minutes to help fit the bike to you and answer any questions. Please be prompt so we can help folks in a timely manner. If there’s a line, please stand 6 feet away from the person in front of you.
• Our staff will wear gloves when we handle the bikes, and we’ll be practicing thorough hand washing hygiene and washing before and after we help each customer. We recommend you do the same. We will sanitize the contact surfaces of each bike before and after your test ride.
• When you decide to purchase a bike from us, we accept credit cards and Apple/Google Pay.. Contactless payments are much less susceptible to viral transmission! Once you’re paid up, you’re good to go and ride.

GIFT CARDS

If you want to help the Bicycle Collective during this challenging time and through this transition, but you don’t need to buy a bike, consider purchasing a gift card to use when we’re able to reopen. You’ll get an additional 10% off your purchase when you use that gift card as a thanks for supporting us through this tough time.  Additionally, please consider donating disinfectants such as Lysol Wipes.

DIY/OPEN SHOP

We value our DIY shop hours immensely, but it is currently unwise to host them. Soon we will be announcing a Service & Repairs department so we can help keep your bike rolling smoothly. We recognize that doesn’t do much to help folks who relied on our Work Trade programs to keep rolling, so we’re making Service Vouchers available to help cover the costs of repairs for those who can’t afford it, click the link here to pay it forward.

DONATIONS of BIKES & PARTS

At this time, we are not accepting donations.  While we know may have bikes they are no longer using or have outgrown and want to give it a second life, we do not yet have all the cleaning supplies needed to accept them.  Please hold onto your items for a few more weeks and stay tuned for an update.

PROGRAMMING

We know many of you are anxious to get back in the shop as a volunteer and/or a program participant.  We are constantly monitoring the situation, evaluating options, and developing new opportunities. Again, please stay tuned.

13 March 2020

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, starting today, Friday March 13, 2020, all Bicycle Collective operations and programs will be suspended.  Specifically, we will not be open to the community for open shop hours, all adult volunteering, youth open shop, and women’s nights.  There will be no Bikes for Goodwill distributed to clients. 

While we are temporarily closing our four shop locations in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo and St. George, our staff will work remotely. Our mechanics, who cannot work remotely, will be allowed to work on bikes to build inventory if they want. We will re-evaluate by March 27, 2020. 

We appreciate your support and understanding for the difficulties that the temporary closure of all our community bike shops will have on the community. We are hopeful that a proactive approach to social distancing will help us do our part to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Containment versus mitigation strategies and the need to put in place social distancing guided our decision.

Here are some links to stay updated on COVID-19:

Utah Department of Health

Salt Lake County Health Department

Center for Disease Control

We strongly encourage you to support local nonprofit organizations that work with the people and families who are most vulnerable in our community. Community health centers, homeless shelters, pre-school and after-school programs, food pantries, and others, will likely become stressed. Please remember that many nonprofits, including ours, may be forced to cancel fundraisers and programs, or experience other related financial impacts from COVID-19. 

Please use our website and social media channels for information and updates. If you have questions, please reach out to me.

Please stay safe and healthy out there!

Sincerely,

Donna McAleer

Executive Director

12 March 2020

As the Bicycle Collective is a shared-use cooperative space, we wanted to make sure we reached out to let you know how we, as an organization, are taking precautions against Coronavirus (COVID-19). We believe “precautions” is the correct word as we strongly believe in taking Coronavirus seriously while proactively maintaining the Bicycle Collective at all our locations as safe space for the community to work on their bikes, purchase used bikes and parts, and create a positive impact for others. Now is not the time to panic; it is the time to double down on building a healthy and resilient community for ALL. 

Below are some new Virus Free BC Rules we are putting in place to maintain a safe hygienic space for all of our shop users. This is not a substitute for broader precautions, and we ask that you stay informed and up to date about COVID-19 from reliable sources. It is tempting and easy to go down a deep dark Coronavirus rabbit hole on the internet, but the information on CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) page and Utah’s Coronavirus page is updated regularly. 

As of 3/12/2020 there are three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Utah.

NEW “VIRUS FREE BC” RULES

1. Stay home and do not come to BC if you are feeling sick. Our staff has been given strict instructions to do the same and as many extra sick days as they need to accomplish this. 
2. A.B.W. (Always Be Washing) Rule. When you arrive at BC, we will ask you to wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (the CDC way) before working on your bike and again after working on your bike. Our mechanics will be washing their hands between each customer they assist with bicycle repair. We will be asking our volunteers to do the same during Volunteer Night.  
3. Clean tools, clean stands. Since we share surface areas (door handles, tools and stands) at BC, we ask that you again wash your hands before and after each time you work at a bench. We will wiping stands, benches and door handle down between customers.
4. Gloves if you need them. BC will provide surgical gloves if you would like to use them when working on your bike. Feel free to bring your own if you have them. 
5. Avoid touching your face directly with your bare hands. If you need to touch your face, use a sanitary method, like a clean cloth between your hand and face. It is virtually impossible not to touch your face, I realize. I have been trying. But you can touch it less often. Be aware of when you’ve just touched surfaces that might infect you (like doorknobs in busy places) and don’t touch your face until you’ve washed your hands. There are strategies — like keeping tissues handy and keeping your hands busy for touching your face less.
6.  Keep your distance. It’s not easy, but try to stay at least six feet away from other people when you’re at work or in public. And don’t shake hands. Your hands are brutally efficient disease vectors.  Try an elbow bump or fist pump.
7. No food or drinks on the shop floor. Since we are all trying to avoid touching our face area as much as possible, especially in community settings, we’re asking that you consume your food and beverages before or after you come to BC. We are going to suspend snacks during all programs. 
8. Be Cool, Be Calm, Ride On. These are precautions, we are taking this seriously, and these are not reasons to panic. So keep riding and stay healthy because there has never been a better time to be on a bike. 

STIGMA AND RESILIENCE

Please read this article about the danger of stigma and discrimination that can occur when people associate a disease, such as COVID-19, with a population, ethnicity or nationality, even though not everyone in that population or from that region is specifically at risk for the disease. 

An informative article on Covid 19 virus with additional resources is here on Medium.

YOU CAN HELP

1. Drop off your clean rags at BC (old washed t-shirts, towels…)
2. Extra soap, disinfectant, surface cleaner, wipes, hand sanitizer (the anti-microbial, not the anti-bacterial type), surgical gloves, kleenex ? We’ll take em!
3. Keep supporting all of your local nonprofits and businesses!

We are prepared to navigate through these challenging circumstances with your safety and confidence at Bicycle Collective at the forefront of everything we do. We will make our decisions with the health and well-beling of our volunteers, employees, customers and communities as our highest priority.

Thank you for your efforts and supporting these new rules in our shops in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Provo, and St. George.

Essen grew up hiking in the beautiful forests of Virginia and pursued her journey west through Kansas to Utah. She hopes to continue her west-bound trajectory by biking the Pacific Coast in the next year. Before coming to the Bicycle Collective, Essen worked to develop refugee programming in a Title 1 elementary school for parent engagement and English Language Learners, through AmeriCorps VISTA. She has also enjoyed directing events, teaching kiddos in special education, and conducting social science research. These experiences helped solidify her love for community engagement with diverse groups. She previously volunteered at the Provo Bicycle Collective and is excited to be part of the Salt Lake team! She is passionate about the healthy lifestyle cycling promotes and the community the Collective creates. You can find her rock-climbing, camping, or scheming ways to recreate the mochi ice cream she buys at Whole Foods.