Story perspectives

Volunteer Repair Café Thrives Amid Right-to-Repair Push

6/9/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Volunteers at a New Paltz church basement Repair Café repaired 71 of 85 donated items, showing volunteer-run collaboration.
The Buy Nothing Project app links 12.5 million users, creating a gift economy that reduces reliance on large retailers.
A 2023 campaign pushed several states to pass right-to-repair laws requiring manufacturers to provide tools and instructions.
Eighty-two-year-old former IBM engineer Bob Morton restored a 1930s Hammond clock for seventy-nine-year-old Paula Weinstein.

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Story summary

Volunteers at a New Paltz church basement Repair Café repaired 71 of 85 donated items, showing volunteer-run collaboration.
The Buy Nothing Project app links 12.5 million users, creating a gift economy that reduces reliance on large retailers.
A 2023 campaign pushed several states to pass right-to-repair laws requiring manufacturers to provide tools and instructions.
Eighty-two-year-old former IBM engineer Bob Morton restored a 1930s Hammond clock for seventy-nine-year-old Paula Weinstein.