Earth Month at the Repair Bank
A very busy Earth Month kicked off spring with a bang at the Repair Bank!
We hosted 17 Repair Days with individuals and corporate volunteer groups, were featured in an online news story, celebrated our first Open House and fundraising kickoff, and represented our program at sustainability fairs hosted at the local headquarters of two Fortune 500 companies. Read on below for details:
We’ve been featured!
Back in February, producer Chris Barnes of the Seattle Channel, our great city’s municipal TV channel, contacted our Founder and Director Xenia to propose creating a feature story about our organization. Over the next month, Chris spent multiple hours at our workshop filming volunteers in action bringing furniture back to life, including a very cool time-lapse video of one item’s restoration from start to finish. He interviewed some of our corporate and individual volunteers about their motivations and experiences at the Repair Bank. He even joined our team on a delivery day where he had the opportunity to speak with some local residents who were recipients of our services (and helped move furniture too!).
Chris has continued to support our organization by providing us with much of his footage to use in volunteer onboarding videos and also lending a hand in filming and editing training videos to be implemented in the coming months.
We are so thankful for this feature that has gained quite a bit of attention for our small but rapidly growing program, including new furniture donations, volunteer sign-ups, and growing interest from corporate groups.
You can view the full episode of CityStream on the Seattle Channel here.
Here is the feature section about Furniture Repair Bank:
Spreading the Word: Open House & Sustainability Fairs
On April 20th we hosted our first-ever Open House to give our supporters a different opportunity to learn more about what we do at the Repair Bank. Those who join us for volunteer events learn the basic overview during onboarding, but this event gave a more in-depth view of our brief history, operations, and the life cycle of the furniture we receive and how it ends up in a new home.
The team came together to clean and organize the workshop in preparation for the day, as it’s usually packed with furniture pieces in the process of restoration. Posters around the workshop educated our visitors about the magnitude of the furniture waste problem, the flow of our operations and equity partners, programs in progress and planning stages, and photos of recipients with their newly restored furniture pieces.
Sustainability Events at Starbucks & Expedia HQ’s
Our team divided and conquered on April 23rd as we represented Furniture Repair Bank during Sustainability events at the headquarters of both Starbucks and Expedia Group.
Starbucks HQ was one of our very first corporate partners to bring teams of motivated volunteers for team-building and community service activities to the workshop. We were pleased to attend this event at their invitation and share information about furniture waste and group volunteering opportunities. Approximately 500+ Partners attended the event which included more than 25 eco-friendly, sustainability-minded businesses and non-profit organizations.
Our relationship with Expedia Group is newer but growing! After connecting with them to discuss volunteer opportunities, they invited our team to attend their Sustainability Market. Hundreds of Expedia staff and vendors were in attendance enjoying delicious cookies provided by event staff while perusing the tables of eco-friendly and nature-focused non-profits and vendors. Our table was flanked by businesses related to gardening and indoor plant care, with one giving out free tiny houseplants! The long line that resulted flowed the new plant owners right to our table where they learned about our volunteer opportunities and resources for their old furniture to find new homes.
Fundraising Efforts
We also launched our first fundraising drive and thanked our donors with shiny new Furniture Repair Bank t-shirts to represent our cause around town! Though we are a small but mighty team, we raised over $12,000 during Earth Month! Being a primarily grant-funded organization with limited resources, donations are crucial as they provide essential financial flexibility and sustainability. Many of the grants we receive are designated for specific projects or purposes, so donations help to cover operational costs, unexpected expenses, and initiatives not covered by grants. This additional financial support helps us maintain stability, expand our programs, and continue serving the communities of Western Washington effectively. If you would like to support our cause with a financial contribution, please visit this link, and THANK YOU for your support!
Earth Month Groups!
As our Group Volunteer program continues to grow, we make new connections and host teams from new companies every month, with Earth Month being extra popular! We are so thankful for the partnerships and volunteer hours selflessly provided by the eager participants. Each team has a great time learning new skills or practicing ones they already have to renew donated furniture for residents in need. Here is a sampling of some of the teams that joined us in reducing waste and supporting their community during Earth Month.
If your workplace, faith group, school, club, or sports team is interested in scheduling a group event with us, please email sara@zerowastewashington.org. We are currently booking events for fall, so reserve your date while there’s still space!
See you at Furniture Repair Bank!
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