b'Giving New Life to our PossessionsThe Repair Caf also builds communityBY ELLEN DONKERW e Americans have a lot of stuff. Sadly, many of us have adopted the prac-tice of replacing anything that breaks with the newest version, casting the broken item into the garbage. Its too expensive to fix or theres no one to take it to for repair. South Orange resident Lorraine Graves knows all about this cycle, given her role at the Environmental Protection Agency. As an environ-mentalist, she understands the importance of keeping our items out of the waste stream. In 2017, this passion led her to bring an event to our towns that connects specialists who have the expertise to fix things with those who have broken possessions. It was the first in New Jersey. Aptly called the Repair Caf, its a movement that was started in 2009 by Martine Postma, a former journalist from Amsterdam. It has since expanded to more than 2,500 sites worldwide. Partnering with SOMA Two Towns for All Ages, which seeks to make our towns age-friendly, Graves organizes one Repair Caf a year. Local experts fix items such as lamps, bikes, jewelry, clocks, small electronics and furniture. Other popular services include knife sharpening and tailoring. L-R: Lenore Berkman, Tonia Moore and Julia Travers converse. Tom Andrasz diagnoses and repairs Alissa Gardenhires sewing machine.L-R: Lorraine Graves, who brought the Repair Caf to SOMA, Bill Graves and KristenBen Vitale fixes a bicycle.Tyler of Two Towns for all Ages38/ matters magazine / spring 2024'