You bring your broken but beloved items and together with volunteer repair coaches, WE FIX THEM!
People bring all kinds of things to a repair cafe: clocks and other mechanical items; chairs, frames, and other wooden items; electrical items and small appliances; digital devices; clothing and textiles; dolls, stuffed animals, and toys; tools in need of sharpening; jewelry and watches; and so much more!
Most items get fixed, and even when they don't – we have a good time trying! After having a lamp re-wired at Beacon, New York’s Repair Cafe, Elizabeth Knight determined to start the first one in Orange County. Warwick hosted its first Repair Cafe in November 2016.
The town of Warwick contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets (Amity, Bellvale, Edenville, Greenwood Forest Farms, Little York, New Milford, Pine Island, and Sterling Forest); our cafe draws folks seeking repairs up to 19 towns in three states. Our congenial coaches come from nine towns.
Sustainable Warwick has been happy to support the Repair Cafe. SW’s goals are to increase understanding of the planet’s resources and minimize waste; support alternatives to plastics and other toxic chemicals; celebrate creativity and community spirit, and emphasize dialogue and collaboration.
The Repair Cafe exemplifies those goals, as it enables people to reuse items instead of tossing them in the landfill and buying new ones, which would require new materials and energy to produce.
“Community connection and collaboration shine at the RC, where people chat, share stories and learn from the repair coaches and from each other.” ~ Mary Makofske, former Sustainable Warwick Steering Committee
NOTE: Masks must be worn by all volunteers and guests inside the building. Repair Cafe is a free community event.
Warwick’s cafe is held in the Senior Center at Warwick’s Town Hall
132 Kings Hwy
Warwick, NY