Evanston resident Judy Baron Fultz collects retro electronic toys that remind her of her childhood. From Santa Claus figurines that sing to movie characters that say their signature lines, she said she has them all.
If a toy stops working, Baron Fultz said she knows exactly where to get it repaired: the Evanston Repair Cafe.
The Repair Cafe is staffed by a group of volunteers who offer skills in electronics and jewelry repair, sewing and knife sharpening. On Saturday, volunteers worked on items including a vacuum cleaner, Crock-Pot and clock.
Cafes are held at the Robert Crown Branch Library every second Saturday and fourth Tuesday of the month.
Anne Opila, the cafe’s co-coordinator, has volunteered with Evanston’s cafe since moving to Glencoe, Illinois, last spring. Prior to that, she was involved with repair cafes in New York.
Anyone can sign up to bring something in to repair and collaborate with volunteers to try to fix the item, free of charge. Some regulars attend the cafe every month to have something repaired, Opila said.
Baron Fultz said Saturday was her fourth time at the cafe. She attended to fix her Thumper toy, which “hold memories” of her growing up with the movie “Bambi,” she said.
“It’s really fun to see all the people here trying to fix their items, and the staff are just wonderful,” Baron Fultz said. “They’re very interested in environmentally keeping things out of the dump.”
Climate Action Evanston held the first Evanston Repair Cafe on Earth Day in 2018. The cafe is sponsored by the organization and Evanston Public Library. The cafe is part of a global network of repair cafes, which originated in Amsterdam in 2009. The goal of the cafes is to increase sustainability and prevent items that can be fixed from going into landfills, Opila said.
Saturday sessions typically have about 15 volunteers, each of whom with a skill that aligns with the demand for repairs, she said. The cafe gets about 40 patrons on Saturdays and 25 on Tuesdays, Opila added.
Evanston resident Ginny Holbert began volunteering Saturday with sewing repairs. She said she felt a sense of satisfaction helping someone with a repaired item that will stay out of the landfill — and sometimes, a new skill as well.
“When they bring something and they see, in some ways, many things are very easy to repair, it becomes less intimidating,” Holbert said.
Some volunteers also bring in items themselves. When there’s a lull in patrons, they collaborate with each other on their own items too.
Opila estimated that the Evanston Repair Cafe has a 75% success rate, and at every cafe, about half the patrons are new to the program.
“There’s a community spirit,” Opila said. “We’re part of Evanston. Evanston is our clientele. We asked people how they heard about us, and pretty much everybody comes from the Evanston community. So it’s a very great community building event as well.”
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