Do you have a broken toaster or some clothes that need mending? Don’t throw them away. GFWC Northboro Junior Woman’s Club‘s Conservation Committee is hosting a Repair Cafe to be held at Trinity Church located at 23 Main Street on Saturday, March 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Bring your items that need repair and knowledgeable volunteers will help you try to fix them for free. The volunteers can work on items such as small appliances, computers, lamps, bikes, jewelry, clothing, and power equipment. They can also sharpen knives, scissors, and garden tools. You only pay for needed parts. If you know what parts are needed, please purchase them ahead of time and bring them to the Repair Café to save time.
Volunteers with repair talent or to help with the event are needed.
The event is jointly hosted by the GFWC Northboro Junior Woman’s Club Conservation Committee, Repair Cafe, and Trinity Church.
Repair Cafés are not only great events to get your vacuum, waffle iron, or lawn mower fixed, but the very nature of their collaborative and community-oriented learning spirit contains the antidote to our modern-day throw-away mentality. Conceived by Martine Postma, a Dutch journalist who was no longer willing to just accept that she had to throw things out that could easily be salvaged, the first Repair Café debuted seven years ago in Amsterdam.
Since the launch of the Repair Café Foundation there has been a spawning of Repair Cafés across The Netherlands and Europe, and most recently to other parts of the world.
One of the essential elements of a Repair Cafe is that people don’t just come to drop off broken items to be picked up later like a traditional repair shop, but that everyone is matched up with a repair person to interact, learn, and build a relationship with the processes and materials that go into making our modern-day conveniences possible. Some people maintain Repair Cafés are all about teaching people to fix their own stuff, even if they’re just coming to get their lamps fixed. “When people sit side by side with a repair person they’re participating just by being there. We really want to leverage that part, just to educate people to think about repair first.”
The event could help bring neighbors together and create new connections within the community. Participants are asked to hang around while their items are being repaired and help with the fix-up or have a snack and visit with neighbors.
For more information or to volunteer email info@northborojuniors.org.