Repair Café of the Peninsula
Two volunteers tuning up a mint-green bicycle with a wicker basket outside the community center

Your neighbors know how to fix things.

Repair Café of the Peninsula is a free, monthly repair event in San Carlos. Bring something broken and fix it side by side with a volunteer.

Next Repair Café

Saturday, November 21 · 3–6 PM

Callis & Elaine Community Center, 1336A Arroyo Ave, San Carlos

Free and drop-in. Check-in closes at 5:30 PM.

Volunteer at this event Get a reminder

What is a Repair Café?

Bring it broken. Fix it together.

A Repair Café is a free community gathering where people bring broken things and work alongside skilled volunteers to fix them, hands-on.

It isn't a drop-off service. You sit down with a volunteer, figure out what's wrong together, and do the repair with their guidance, so you leave knowing a little more about how your things work. The idea started in Amsterdam in 2009, and there are now almost 4,000 Repair Cafés worldwide. Learn about the movement.

  1. A volunteer and a visitor kneeling on the floor to fix a motorized holiday ladder decoration

    1 Bring a broken item

    A lamp that flickers, a jacket with a torn seam, a chair that wobbles. No appointment needed: just check in at the door and we'll find you a seat.

  2. A volunteer and a visitor opening up an espresso machine together, surrounded by tools

    2 Fix it side by side

    We pair you with a volunteer who knows that kind of repair. You do the work and they guide you through it. Simple fixes take 15 minutes; tricky ones can take an hour or more.

  3. Volunteers and a visitor applauding as a repaired lamp lights up

    3 Meet your neighbors

    Chat with the people at your table and cheer when something comes back to life. Of the 79 items brought to our first two events, 56 went home working.

  • Free Always, for everyone
  • Drop-in No appointment needed
  • Hands-on You fix it with a volunteer
  • 3–6 PM Check-in closes at 5:30

Bring it in

What we fix

If you can carry it in and you're ready to roll up your sleeves, there's a good chance we can help.

Visitors and volunteers working on electronics repairs around a table of tools

  • Electronics & small appliances

    Lamps, fans, radios, chargers, headphones and similar small appliances. If it plugs in or runs on batteries, bring it in and diagnose it with a volunteer.

  • Sewing & textiles

    Torn seams, missing buttons, frayed hems and worn fabric. Bring your clothing, bags and soft goods and stitch them back together with a volunteer guiding the way.

  • Furniture & wood

    Wobbly chairs, broken hinges, stuck drawers. Get hands-on with a volunteer to stabilize, reattach and restore it together.

  • Bicycles

    Flat tires, slipping chains, weak brakes and gears that won't shift. Wheel your bike in and tune it up with a volunteer so it rolls safely again.

  • Toys, ceramics, jewelry & everything else

    Broken toys, chipped mugs, snapped necklaces, loose clasps and the household things that don't fit anywhere else. If it truly can't be fixed, we'll tell you honestly.

Please leave at home

  • Large appliances
  • Earbuds, phones, cameras and watches
  • Toasters or ovens
  • Three-phase power tools
  • Sewing alterations or resizing (repairs only)
  • Items missing critical parts that can't reasonably be sourced
  • Vehicles or motorized equipment
  • Anything hazardous: leaking batteries, cracked screens, mold

Not sure? Email before the event.

Two events in

What we’ve fixed together so far

See event recaps
  • 79Items brought in
  • 56Fixed and back in use
  • 71%Fix rate
  • 363lbKept out of the landfill
  • Two people smiling over a small electronics repair at a table covered in tools
  • A visitor guiding fabric through a sewing machine at the textile repair table
  • A visitor working on an espresso machine surrounded by tools

More photos:

September album October album

In the news

“Repair Café of the Peninsula events build community”

San Mateo Daily Journal, October 19, 2026 Read the story

San Mateo Daily Journal

Repair Café of the Peninsula events build community

Read the full story ↗
Sewing volunteers at the textile repair table, one waving at the camera

Get involved

It all runs on volunteers.

Twenty neighbors volunteered at our October event. We’d love for you to be one of them.

We need repair coaches who know their way around electronics, sewing, furniture, bikes and odds and ends. Just as important are the people who welcome visitors, keep the room running, take photos and spread the word. Some roles need no repair skills at all.

  • Repair coaching
  • Welcome & check-in
  • Event flow
  • Photography
  • Design & social media
  • Flyers & partnerships

It’s about 3–4 hours at a single event, with no ongoing commitment.

Sign up for Nov 21 See all roles

Our mission

Less waste, more neighbors who can fix things.

We keep useful things out of the landfill and bring neighbors together by hosting free community repair events on the San Francisco Peninsula, where people fix their broken belongings side by side with skilled volunteers and learn to repair things themselves.

Stay in touch

Get a heads‑up before the next one.

Join our mailing list to hear when we announce an event and when we need volunteers.

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