Released For Publication - Feb 14, 2023
The Guelph Tool Library, a member-based lending library with over 1200 tools and appliances, is launching the $5K to Save The Day fundraiser.
The Guelph Tool Library is volunteer-run and managed on a shoestring budget.
In addition to providing access to tools for over 1,400 members since 2016, the Guelph Tool Library also delivers programming that supports efforts to reduce waste and promote the Circular Economy. Programming includes:
Repair Cafes - events where people can bring broken items to be repaired by volunteer fixers
The Guelph Seed Library - which provides garden seed to members and non-members
The GTL Circular Store - a brand new mini thrift store and recycling centre
The Urban Sugaring Project - which helps community members collect sap from their own maple trees for a community syrup boil
The Grow Community Garden - a place for community members to grow fresh produce for themselves and for donation
Sew on the Go - a service offering clothing repairs to residents in retirement homes
Backyard Caring - a program focused on accessible skill sharing on urban food production, gardening tools, backyard chickens, houseplants and cooking with homegrown harvests
Membership costs only cover 15% of the organization’s operating expenses. The remainder of the costs of the Guelph Tool Library are covered with a hodgepodge of grants.
“We have some volunteers that are crackerjack grant writers but sometimes the timing of those grants doesn’t always line up with the everyday expenses of running an organization,”
says Claire Cowan, a member of the Guelph Tool Library Board of Directors and the Steering Committee.
To help tide the organization over until the next round of funding arrives in March, the Guelph Tool Library is asking the community for $5k to save the day.
The organization is actively working on securing more sustainable sources of funding so they can keep lending tools, repairing items, running programs and helping Guelph participate in the Circular Economy.
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