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NW Philly Repair Cafe

Our goal is to reduce waste. At the NW Philly Repair Cafe, local fixers with know-how will help community members who don't know how, to fix their throw-away broken items and to recycle responsibly. 

Leader

Betsy Wallace

Location

8855 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19118

Impact areas

Public Health & Nutrition

About the project



Time4Time Community Exchange is co-hosting a Repair Café on Saturday, September 20, 2014, at the Center on the Hill, 8855 Germantown Ave., Phila., PA 19118. Conceived as a way to help people reduce waste and build a sense of community, the NW Philly Repair Café is a half-day event where neighbors pool their skills and labor for a few hours on a particular day to fix things at no cost, like mending clothing, reviving old coffee-makers, fixing computers, broken lamps, bikes and toys, small furniture repair, knife and blade sharpening, and gluing the plastic thingy that broke off that new item you just bought.  Our event is based on the program created by the Repair Café Netherlands Foundation.  They are very popular in Europe and the United States.  We will be the first to open a Repair Café in Northwest Philadelphia.



	Here’s how it works. Volunteer local experts/fixers set up repair stations where neighbors will bring their broken stuff for repair (electrical appliances, computers, clothing, housewares, bicycles, etc), including any necessary replacement parts. There's food, a “Really Really Free” clothing swap table, and a place for neighbors to chat as they wait their turn to get an item repaired. If an item can’t be fixed, it can be recycled responsibly. It's family-friendly! There will be kid activities using recycled materials.


The Steps
    
	
  1. 
		Recruit fixers and event volunteers
    2. 
	
  2. 
		Organize repair stations/logistics
    3. 
	
  3. 
		Obtain basic fix-it supplies and volunteer insurance
    4. 
	
  4. 
		Conduct outreach publicizing the event
    5. 
	
  5. 
		Manage 100 community people coming in for repairs
    6. 



 


Why we‘re doing it
We want to build a stronger community and increase their awareness about reducing waste and recycling responsibly.


$2,586.00 / $2,586.00