Westborough Rotary’s Repair Café Success!

Westborough, MA – Bicycles. Clocks. Rice cookers. Lamps. Necklaces. Knives. What do all these sundry items have in common? They were all fixed at the Repair Café on Saturday, April 13 at the Westborough Public Library. For over twenty years, the Repair Cafe, sponsored by the library and the Westborough Rotary Club, has offered this free and popular event to the community.

 

Rotary members, who are people of action, volunteered their time to fix broken items and put smiles on peoples’ faces. “This is my favorite Rotary event,” said Sandy Coker, President of the Westborough Rotary Club. “The Repair Café is an example of pure service—this is what Rotary is all about—bringing people together.” Given Rotary’s commitment to environmental sustainability, running the Repair Café is an excellent example of reducing waste and keeping stuff out of our landfills. Photo: Can this fan be fixed? Yes, it was!

In just several hours, volunteers repaired hundreds of items with great success. “We have a Use and Throw Culture in the United States,” stated Anil Kurite. “The Repair Café is a great way to encourage people to reuse and recycle items.” Rose Mary Morrissey brought in a pair of lamps that hadn’t seen the light of day for some time. Her experience at the Repair Café changed that. “This is a wonderful event--I think I’ll smile for the rest of the day,” said Morrissey. Brian O’Keefe left the Repair Cafe with sharpened knives and garden shears, delighted he didn’t need to buy new items.

Rotary’s motto “Service Above Self” captures the spirit of members passionate about building community. “I love our Rotary Club, it brings people together,” exclaimed Roberta Brown, Service Chair of the Westborough Rotary Club. “Today we helped many people fix items they didn’t have the time to fix or know how to fix.”