Local Volunteers Will Repair Your Broken Items for Free

Instead of throwing away that broken toaster or vacuum cleaner, you can actually get it fixed for free this Saturday.

The Repair Cafe is a place where anyone in the community can bring in a broken item for volunteers to help fix. "Repair Coaches," as they're called, include specialists like electricians, seamstresses, carpenters and bicycle mechanics that will take your broken treasures and help you to make them new again.

Nancy Compton and Rachel Ruth from the Poughkeepsie Repair Cafe tell us that the events are more than just having things fixed for free. Visitors actually learn how to do repairs themselves and become empowered to help others with their broken items.

Not only does the Repair Cafe save money and prevent those valuable items from filling up the landfill, the program also gives volunteers a chance to give back to the community and share their talents with others.

Those who are interested can bring their items to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church on Mill Street in Poughkeepsie this Saturday, January 28 from 9am to 12pm. If you're handy and would like to volunteer to help, the Repair Cafe is always looking for more coaches to help with repairs

There are many other communities in the Hudson Valley that also offer their own repair cafes including New Paltz, Kingston, Warwick, Rosendale, Rhinebeck and Gardiner. You can check out a full list of locations and dates at the Hudson Valley Repair Cafe's website.