SUPPORT AND DONATE TODAY
Hi Friend of SEAC!
We’re hoping you can help us with our new tool lending program😊! Since April, the Tool Shed has saved residents of the Greater Rochester Area more than $69K in purchases and rentals that they can use to pay bills, maintain their residences, and invest in our local merchants instead. Hailing from 32 zip codes, our 250 (so far!) members have borrowed over 1,200 items from our inventory of more than 750 tools. All that amounts nearly 3 tons (4 city garbage trucks) of waste diverted from our area landfills! With 7 months of business under our belts, we’ve only just begun giving our community the tools they need to make the changes they want!
But we really need your help. I’m hoping you’ll consider donating to SEAC’s appeal. Grants from NYS, ESL and nearly a dozen sponsors have covered most of our overhead for SEAC, but we need assistance with the programmatic costs of operating and developing the Tool Shed.
With the creation of this tool library, SEAC has begun to provide service into more poverty-stricken areas of the city and rural communities. Many of our community partners are strongly promoting our resource in their areas and are delighted that our service extends to them.
We insist that cost not be a barrier to people being able to repair, build, and maintain their homes, businesses, and community. Our members are neighborhood associations, renters, property managers, skilled tradespeople, homeowners, community organizations and agencies, community gardens, and even schools. And it is not enough to give them the tools- we want to teach them how to use them, budget and untether from debt, and develop strong relationships within their communities.
A tax-deductible gift from you would help us implement the DIY, repair, financial literacy, home improvement and maintenance, and makers workshops we are planning for 2023. Partnering with other area agencies like 490 Community Farmers, Veterans Outreach Center, Youth Build, Key Bank, Center for Youth and the Summer of Opportunity Program will allow us to offer clinics on toilet/plumbing repair, installing and repairing locks, budgeting for maintenance and emergency repairs, gardening in food deserts, and basic tool safety.
DEI is a critical part of our mission, umbrellaing all four of our pillars of service- anti-poverty, children’s health, safety, education and nutrition, neighborhood organizations (associations and block clubs) and supporting local merchants. Our residents need and want us, and this program and we need your help delivering to them.
I appreciate your consideration of making a gift to our annual corporate appeal today. Your generosity ensures our continued positive impact, not only in the southeast area, but that of Greater Rochester. Nail down your tax-deductible donation today and be part of constructing a prosperous tomorrow for many! Please, pick up your hammer and make an impact!
Check out all the other amazing stuff SEAC has gotten up to this year with our Pillars of Focus Impact Summary
Thank you so much and be well,
Mike Evans, Executive Director
TOOL SHED TESTIMONIALS
“It is so awesome. I can’t believe something like this exists! The first two times I went by myself but now my wife always wants to come too. She’s used the little sander for the walls and is doing all kinds of things. I was kind of scared at first to use the chainsaw because it is so much more powerful than it looks on YouTube but then I borrowed the little one and got comfortable and we use things all the time. Sometimes we just stop by when we’re in the area to check out what’s new and get tips from Nick. Everybody who works there is way too nice and it was so good that you have the young kids working there in the summer learning how to do things. I want to recommend it to my friends but I’m afraid they’ll take out all the things I want to borrow! I give it *****!” -Marvic
“The Tool Shed is great! We’ve already saved $450 in just our first three weeks of membership! I was moaning over the cost of a plumbing tool at Home Depot one day when another customer told me to call Nick at the Tool Shed. I was able to borrow a shark bite pex pincher and saved $150 just for that one tool! We use our membership for our business too. We opened a community theater, The Playhouse on Park, recently and sanded all the chairs in the house with the sanders from the Tool Shed.” – Keith More, The Playhouse on Park
“I love the Tool Shed! I keep telling everyone about it. I’ve been doing all kind of renovations to my house, and we’ve used some stuff for work outside too. I can’t wait for you to hold woodworking classes so I can get better at cutting angles and basic carpentry. I’m a new homeowner and the Tool Shed has been a life (and money) saver! I’m training to become an electrician so the Tool Shed will be handy for that too!” – Divonte
“SEAC’s Tool Shed is fantastic! When Covid hit and we were stuck at home, we started doing all sorts of projects like building a shed and painting. It’s too bad the Tool Shed wasn’t around during the main shut down but now we’ve got momentum and we just finished the kitchen backsplash today! I’ll tell you that water saw was so amazing! It didn’t crack the tiles when we cut them, and we used the grout mixer this week to finish up. We cut new baseboards with Tool Shed loans and sanded all the floors. My parents bought this house in 1983 and I grew up here and hasn’t looked this good in years! The Tool Shed is making it possible to do all the things we’ve been talking about for years because we can do so much of it ourselves!” -Helen and Siobhan
“Thanks to our membership with The Tool Shed, Nativity Preparatory Academy of Rochester’s students participated in a service project with other community members, teachers, and volunteers to clean up the South Wedge neighborhood on June 8,2022. The tools from the program made it possible for us to participate and give our students a chance to serve the community in a positive way. This aligns with Nativity’s core values of Respect, Responsibility, Gratitude, Spirituality and Scholarship, that we reinforce with students in our middle school program each year. Thank you for having this valuable resource in the community!” – James C. Smith, Principal
“We just moved to Rochester and bought a house in the city. The Tool Shed has saved us a fortune! We couldn’t even afford a ladder after we moved in! There have been lots and lots of surprises, especially since we had to close without an inspection. The Tool Shed has made it possible for us to start fixing things up ourselves since we couldn’t afford to buy tools or hire out a lot of contractors. We put in a laundry room and laid a bathroom floor. The huge inventory at the Tool Shed lets us try out different tools to see which brands and kinds we like best for when we do go to make a purchase in the future. For example, now I know that the DeWalt is my favorite orbital sander. We can figure out which tools we actually need to own versus the ones we just want to borrow. There are so many “one and done projects” like our wood panel access door that it just doesn’t make sense to buy the tool for. I’ll only ever need it once and, if I do need it again, I know just where to find it! And it is so conveniently located. Where else can you get bush trimmers, reciprocating saws, a jackhammer and clamps in one place for just $25 a year?! We are getting all kinds of hands-on experience too! It’s been totally empowering for both of us!” -Charlie and Deb
“We borrowed sanders and power saws to help my sister-in-law to replace all her flooring. We didn’t have to pay to rent anything and didn’t have to pay to have someone come in to use it! It saved us a ton of money and it brought the whole family together to get the project done.” -Katherine Bauroth
“Volunteering at SEAC’s Tool Shed has been a great way for me to transition to retirement. My experience in the construction industry comes in handy, whether it is in working with the tools themselves or interacting with the members. I can volunteer as much or as little as I want and feel like I’m making a real, visible impact on our community. I’ve been around tools my whole life, so it’s a great fit. The atmosphere is relaxed and positive. I really enjoy it and see how much it means to our members.” -Pete Whelehan
South East Area Coalition 