Sometimes a broken appliance gets thrown out even though it just needs a little fix. That’s where volunteer tinkerers come in. They make it work again and give it to people in need.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
When the coffee pot stops brewing, the vacuum stops sucking up dirt or that lamp no longer turns on, well, they usually end up in the trash. But in Cincinnati a group of volunteers said, why not fix these old appliances up and find them new homes? Today on our series Here to Help, how volunteer tinkers are turning one person’s junk into another’s treasure. Tana Weingartner with member station WVXU has the story.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRIC MOTOR WHIRRING)
TANA WEINGARTNER, BYLINE: On the second floor of an old warehouse in Cincinnati, shelves of toasters, blenders, Crock-Pots and lamps overflow onto the floor where they’re met with rows of old vacuum cleaners, microwaves and other small electronics.
MIKE CONAWAY: It’s great to be able to find a big pile of stuff to fix (laughter).
WEINGARTNER: Retired engineer Mike Conaway pulls a coffee pot and a dusty orange fan from the pile. While he waits to see if the coffee maker’s heating element warms up, he sets about taking apart the fan.
CONAWAY: Sometimes I feel like I’ve turned into a glorified appliance cleaner. Fans are an easy fix. Usually, they’re just clogged up with dog hair or whatever, and they need to have the bearings oiled or something.
WEINGARTNER: He’s one of six volunteer tinkerers here today. The group started about a year and a half ago at the Cincinnati Recycling & Reuse Hub. That’s when a staff member realized a lot of things people wanted to get rid of just needed minor repairs. Now retirees like Conaway just show up. He’s here twice a month to see what he can fix. No experience is required. Most just like taking things apart and trying to put them back in working order.
CONAWAY: We don’t buy parts. There’s no budget to buy parts. But stuff that comes in a lot, like coffee makers, for instance, we have a tub over there that says coffee maker parts.
WEINGARTNER: The fixed appliances often end up at a local furniture bank, says Carrie Harms, who works at the Recycling & Reuse Hub.
CARRIE HARMS: They are getting them into the hands of folks who are coming out of homelessness and set up into homes. So these items go into those homes to help them get off on the right foot in that new setting.
WEINGARTNER: Each item goes out with a Tinker Team sticker, so if it breaks again, it can be brought back for more repairs. Conaway decided to volunteer here because he says he hates to see things go to waste and clog up landfills. And tinkering is just how he was raised.
CONAWAY: My dad could fix anything. Just like to fix stuff and hate to see stuff get thrown away that could still work. And that’s probably the thing that came from Dad.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRIC MOTOR WHIRRING)
WEINGARTNER: In its first year and a half, the Tinker Team has given new life to nearly 1,400 household electronics. For NPR News, I’m Tana Weingartner in Cincinnati.
(SOUNDBITE OF TALKING HEADS’ “RIGHT START (UNFINISHED OUTTAKE)”)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
