Without fail, every Fix-It Night had at least one story worth writing home about. There was the powered recliner that Clark worked on for three solid hours in January, and the epic rescue of a convection oven in October, which brought the whole team together by the end of the night to bring it back to life. Sewing machines were fixed and tuned up by Sarah and Wendy, and there were countless consumer electronic devices of all kinds that went home working again. It has been inspiring, to say the least, and we are grateful for all of our wonderful Fixers.
Peter, our extraordinary Shoreline Tool Library Volunteer Manager & Shoreline Tool Library Coordinator, has been managing these events the entire year, and he's done some amazing recordkeeping. Below are some numbers worth celebrating:
- Over 200 community members served
- At least 296 items totaling 2650 pounds presented to our Fixers
- 242 items (probably more) fixed, representing 1997 pounds of stuff kept out of the waste stream.
Out of those roughly 296 items brought to the tool library, can you guess what the most popular item is? The answer is lamps! Our Fixers handled 30 lamps, and managed to send all but one home. Our Fixers also saw 14 vacuum cleaners, 12 items of apparel, 10 sewing machines, 8 fans, 6 string trimmers, and 5 coffee makers.
There were also some very unique items that came into the tool library. Some highlights include a skeleton statue, bug zapper, FitBit, and our personal favorite, a boombox from the 1980's. Incredible!
We cannot say it enough, but we are so thankful for our Fixers. Not only have they brightened people’s days by bringing damaged goods back to life, but they have also kept thousands of pounds of usable items out of the landfill. They taught folks about fixing and inspired everyone with the power of repair. It is always a treat to hear the community rave about Fix-It Night, and we really want to echo those sentiments. Fixers, thank you for everything you do to support the community.
Happy holidays, everyone, and we'll see you back at the tool library for some fixin'!
