On Saturday, May 12, the Repair Café team visited Parkdale Toronto Library for our 55th monthly event. This event was part of Spring Into Parkdale Festival and Zero Waste Fair. Thanks to the wonderful work of our volunteers, it was another great success. Everyone enjoyed the terrific energy of the event.
This café was also our 5th anniversary repair event. Our grassroots initiative continues to grow steadily since 2013. We have established a dedicated volunteer team and are grateful for the wonderful contribution of everyone to the Repair Café. And we are excited to have more and more young people joining our team. The co-founders of Repair Café, Paul and Fern, shared their thoughts on our 5th anniversary:
“The Repair Café has been an amazing journey. The first five years have been like birthing a child and nurturing its growth. We’ll know our local repair culture has reached maturity when it no longer needs us to organize events! The best part about the Repair Café is all the wonderful people we have met. The city of Toronto is a fantastic community full of dedicated, generous, hard-working people.”
Our long-time fixer Aaron, who has been volunteering with us almost every month since the first Repair Café, told us his diagnostic skills have been getting better over the last five years. He shared his thoughts on our 5th anniversary:
“It’s been great watching the Repair Cafe grow, along with the great diversity of people and objects that continue to come in. I’m looking forward to the next five years, and more!”
This past year, we continued to collaborate with various local organizations, from the Toronto Public Library branches to community groups, such as Evergreen and Harbourfront Art Gallery. We have been working with school groups and also joined the EcoSchools Conference earlier this year. We are glad to have helped the startup of other repair cafés, including York Region, OCAD University, and others.
Part of the magic of Repair Café is its rejuvenating power. It is a place where broken items get their life extended. Repair Café is also a place where people connect with each other, restore themselves, feel empowered. This Repair Café magic is similar to what nature gives us. That was why we offered our 5th anniversary picnic at Christie Pits Park. We had a great turnout on Saturday June 9 with volunteers bringing their family and friends. One of the highlights was the captivating performance of the magician, Lukas Stark.
Looking ahead, Repair Café will continue to build the repair culture in Toronto and beyond. We invite more people and organizations to join us in our initiative to build a sustainable society!
Our next Repair Café will be held at Flemingdon Park Library on Saturday, June 16. For details, please visit the Upcoming Events page.
Poster design by Fern Mosoff
Photographs by Tracy Mon, Julie Trinh, Fern Mosoff, Diana Li and Wai Chu Cheng