FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2018
Contact: John Lyon, Dir. Strategic Communications, Rockland County 845-638-5645
Jackie Dodrill, Public Information Specialist, RC Solid Waste Management 845-753-2200

New City, NY – County Executive Ed Day announced that the second Rockland Repair Café was a huge success. The event took place Saturday, November 10, 2018, from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at North Rockland High School. The event paired Repair Coaches, who are neighbors with fix-it expertise, with people who brought in items to be fixed such as lamps, computers, clothing, frames, small appliances, wooden items, toys and electronics.

139 Rockland residents attended the event, bringing on average 2 items to be repaired, that's almost 280 repairs in 4 hours. Any item that could be carried in was assessed by Repair Coaches and fixed for free. Residents brought lamps, jewelry, computers, chairs, toys, clothing, vacuums, toasters and numerous other items to be fixed.

The ability to fix or repair items is a dying art, and Repair Café celebrates the time, talent and transfer of fixer's expertise, ensuring that their knowledge is shared with others – especially young people.

The Executive Director of the Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority, Anna Roppolo, said the Repair Cafe was, "another great community building event utilizing our partnerships with other like-minded volunteers, organizations and North Rockland High School student volunteers! Just think if all of those items went unrepaired - they would have ended up in a landfill over 300 miles from Rockland. This event reinforced and supports the Authority's reduction and reuse efforts, partnerships, commitment to the environment and continual education of our residents."

"The benefits of this partnership are extensive and transformational; preserving repair know-how skills by passing them on to the younger generation is critical to Rockland's shared future," said County Executive Day. "I am thrilled that so many of you joined in this important initiative because only by working together, fostering a true sense of community, can we complete the renaissance that we have begun in this county."

Repair Café is a free, youth-friendly community event sponsored by Rockland County, the Rockland Conservation & Service Corps (a program of the Rockland County Youth Bureau), Rockland County Solid Waste Management Authority and North Rockland Central School District.

For more information about the Repair Café movement and future events please like us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/rocklandgov and http://www.facebook.com/GreenUpRockland/

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