Repair Bank News Brief
Volunteer Participation
The first few months of 2024 have been quite busy at the Repair Bank! We receive multiple inquiries from new individual volunteers on a daily basis which continues to grow our ranks of motivated fixers learning new skills while reducing furniture waste. Our high-impact group volunteering program is rapidly gaining attention with new teams from local companies joining us for repair events weekly. We also established a new record for volunteers from the furthest distance when we hosted a team of students from the project team connectUS, an international student project of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland!
In April we are looking forward to 17 repair events including new teams from Amazon, Nestle, REI, Pariveda, UPS, and the University of Washington Evans School (Go Dawgs!). The Spring calendar is filling up quickly so if you’re interested in scheduling a group volunteer event in the coming months, please reach out to xenia@zerowastewashington.org soon.
Local Support
The Repair Bank also had the pleasure of hosting a team of volunteers from the University District Rotary Club. Their day of volunteering was preceded by their generous funding of our 2023-24 Community Service Project. This financial support provided almost $5,000 to cover the costs of tools, supplies, and equipment to conduct repairs and set up our warehouse space.
We were able to replenish our supplies of sandpaper and upholstery foam and batting, which is crucial to our work. We also added pneumatic staplers, a button-making machine, and a steam cleaner to our inventory to make our reupholstery work much easier. For the wood furniture side of operations, we also obtained two dust collection systems to pair with our machine sanders. We now have the ability to sand furniture indoors without filling the warehouse with a cloud of sawdust!
Their donation also covered the costs of insulation for the bay doors at the front and rear of the warehouse. We work in a VERY old and drafty building, so the gift of insulation made a significant difference for us and our volunteers during the chillier days!
During their volunteer work party at the warehouse, the U-District Rotarians were able to utilize these supplies and equipment in pursuit of our common goal of reducing furniture waste while supporting the most vulnerable of our neighbors. We are so appreciative of partners such as these and could not achieve our goals without their support.
Lifting Furniture Circularity in WA
One of the pillars of Furniture Repair Bank is to promote furniture reuse by individuals and businesses. By supporting other businesses and entrepreneurs who repair, refinish, redesign, and rent furniture and other home furnishings, we empower the circular economy and keep furniture in circulation longer in Washington State.
Thanks to a generous grant from the Washington State Microenterprise Association, we can spread this support even further. The WSMA has awarded $2 million to 80 nonprofit associations in Washington State to help small business owners strengthen business skills, discover innovations in their fields, and access financing to grow their workforce, in turn growing local economies in every region of the state.
We are currently gathering industry feedback on what type of support is needed by small furniture restoration businesses and independent furniture flippers. If you fall into one of those categories, please reach out to provide your input to influence the offerings and then benefit from them this spring!
More information about our program may be found here. Thank you WSMA and the Washington State Department of Commerce for funding this impactful program!
Come to the Open House!
As you may know, April is Earth Month, a cause very dear to the Repair Bank mission. Sustainability is at our core as we divert furniture waste from the landfill and teach repair and restoration skills to our mighty and motivated volunteers. Which is why we will be hosting our first Open House on April 20th!
Stay tuned for a separate email with details of the event as well as an Earth Day volunteer opportunity!
Help us prepare and RSVP here: https://www.linkedin.com/events/furniturerepairbankopenhouse7180245681796792321/
See you at Furniture Repair Bank!
Follow us!
