Peace-of-Mind Donation Program

Our goal: Provide peace of mind to our frontline heroes during these unprecedented times.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to many things—festivals, sporting events, the usual routines of work and school. But not, unfortunately, bike theft.

With the spread of the novel coronavirus came a steady trickle of news about medical professionals finishing shifts only to find their rides stolen. One such story caught the eye of Altor co-founder and COO Dylan Cato and suggested to him a way Altor could help during the public health crisis sweeping the globe.

In mid-March, Altor launched its Peace-of-Mind Donation program, committing to gift 50 APEX locks to medical workers commuting by bike to the front lines of the COVID-19 struggle.

“Here at Altor,” wrote Cato on the company blog on March 17, “we can provide these community heroes with some peace of mind at least when it comes to the security of their transportation.”

To the Irish doctor whose bike theft story inspired the program, Altor shipped one of the new SAF locks, an angle-grinder resistant beast of a U-lock that offers two-wheeled commuters perhaps the best available antidote to bike-theft anxiety.

As news of the Peace-of-Mind program spread—on social media, via local television, by word-of-mouth—requests for locks began appearing in Altor’s inbox. From RNs and radiologists and fire rescue personnel. From a clinical consultant and an embryologist, a paramedic and a medical equipment engineer. From a mother-son pair of ICU nurses.

Frontliners craved the equanimity the program offered.

“I am an RN and commute by bicycle and theft is always a worry,” Sun Y. of Los Angeles explained in an email.

“I ride my bike to work every shift and would feel so much safer having a better bike lock!” wrote nurse Kristen K. “Stealing bikes in Santa Barbara is like a sport.”

A morgue technician from the Bronx whose electric bike had been stolen wanted an APEX to help protect her replacement ride.

A Brooklyn nurse who was commuting by bike but did not yet own a lock got one gratis when a friend contacted Altor on his behalf.

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital paramedic, Cormac, and nurse, Kaitlin, are two recipients of Peace-of-Mind donations.

By the time the Peace-of-Mind program met its 50-lock donation goal in mid-July, Altor had shipped locks to first responders and medical workers from across the country: from Wiley Ford, WV and Albuquerque,NM to Tampa, FL and San Francisco, CA.

Peace-of-Mind donations went to 11 states plus the District of Columbia.

Supporting essential workers during these unprecedented times would have been its own reward, but the outpouring of thanks from lock recipients made administering the program even more gratifying.

“Thank you so much!!!” exclaimed Patrick J. of Santa Barbara. “The lock is awesome!”

“I love your product,” wrote Pittsburgh radiation therapist Jenn D., “but now I know the people behind the scenes and the company itself are all of the same top notch quality!”