Tucked away on a quiet street just off the main drag in downtown St Johns sits the Red Sea Church. What's happening in this funky neighborhood location is more than just Sunday service: its ample basement space has been given to two (related) groups—North Portland Preserve & Serve Library and Swap N Play Community Sharing.
These two grassroots, community and consciousness inspired organizations embrace the spirit of sharing and our DIY Portland culture. Preserve & Serve is a kitchen utensils and tool library of sorts, while Swap N Play focuses on shared space devoted to kids and their parents.
The impetus to develop both endeavors came from Andrea Davey, who modeled the Swap N Play center after the Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-op that took off in Southeast Portland. The St Johns version is Swap Shop's sister organization. Another like-minded facility will open soon in Northeast Portland. Seems like everyone wants to share and play these days, which is a good thing.
Swap N Play engages community members with kids who want another option to traditional, home-based play groups. Since inhabiting the clean, bright, large space in early January 2009, over 70 families have committed to the nominal fee of $15 per month, used to cover utilities, insurance, and other resources like toys and games. When you join Swap N Play, you are given access to the facility and its resources, including the option to borrow toys. While there's no onsite teacher, parents, caretakers and their kids engage in play, and naturally create their own play groups with new friends and neighbors. The morning of my visit, a music class was just gearing up for some fun with a few three-year olds and their moms.
Members are encouraged to both bring in unwanted resources and borrow what they need. Member parent Shelley notes that the spirit of sharing has already made an impact on her three-plus-year-old: "We spend two days a week at Swap N Play, and Kylie borrows a toy or two a week. After a few days, she says ‘Mommy, let's take this back for somebody else to use.' I like that she already gets it."
Sharing resources, facilities, toys, kitchen and dining utensils, clothes (Note: on September 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be an all age back to school clothing exchange onsite), baby and maternity items all makes sense for communities and neighbors who value sustainable practices, which, as we all know, is one of Stumptown's most popular mantras. Preserve & Serve maintains storage space at the Swap N Play location, commandeering a large storage closet for its kitchen tools library, and uses its large community kitchen space for monthly demos and classes.
Davey got the notion to truly dive into sharing resources when she realized that her annual family/neighborhood party relied on disposables rather than durables. "All our garbage from that party ended in the landfill. When that message truly hit home with me, I went to Goodwill and collected over 70 plates that we could use over and over again." Structured as a lending resource for neighbors (see our own North and Northeast Tool Libraries), Davey created a kitchenwares lending library where members donate water bath canners, food dehydraters, pressure cookers, and other kitchen hardware, as well as educational resources such as how to guides that they perhaps use only once or twice a year—and then only check out the pots and pans on an as needed basis. It's a great way to free up space in your own kitchen storage, and to share materials that typically don't get frequent use.
Our fair city is supportive of such endeavors, and expressed great interest in moving from trash collection events, quite popular in many Portland neighborhoods year-round, to recycling events. The St Johns crew hosted a Trash to Treasure event this past spring, which was a huge success. "Lines of cars waited to drop off unwanted items for this April event. It was so popular, we plan for it to continue annually, on the Saturday after Earth Day," notes Nicole Riby, volunteer board member. "The notion to ‘bring what you can spare, take only what you need' establishes an inclusive, welcoming event that promotes sharing and community building."
The Office of Planning and Sustainability awarded a $1300 grant that Davey used to purchase additional materials for the kitchen lending project. She's now compiled dinnerware and glasses for 100, boxed in sets of 13. People can borrow these for larger events like parties and weddings, and must reserve the kits 30 days in advance. If people want to borrow anything in the kitchen library, including the kits, they are asked for a $5 to $30 dollar donation. (Apparently most ‘members' contribute a $10 donation per use.) Lending hours are on Tuesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 to 11 a.m.
To further feed a growing interest in sustainable living, especially in the kitchen, Preserve & Serve also offers community classes each month. Check their web site for current scheduling. FYI—there's a cool canning demo planned for the St Johns Farmers Market on September 19th, and on October 2 we can all look forward to an applesauce/canning class at the Preserve & Serve site.
Preserve & Serve's storage closet
Due to its popularity, Preserve & Serve has already outgrown its space, that is, the storage closet at Swap N Play. The all volunteer board is not only committed to finding a larger location for both the kitchen lending library and demonstrations and classes, but wants to refine its processes for easy, efficient reservation and check out to basic inventory management, especially as the library grows. The board hopes that more volunteers will be attracted to the project, and plans to seek nonprofit status in the future. Davey notes, "First, we need to get a sense of what we need, then a new location. After that, we can secure our systems implementation and build up our volunteer corps."
She continues: "Our overall mission is to focus on green living, to make a significant impact on our footprint." So far, so good—it's a popular sentiment.
The first Preserve & Serve demo was held at this summer's inaugural St Johns Farmers Market, which, incidentally, attracted 3000 visitors. There are two more Saturdays left for this independent market—September 19 and 26—so, plan to be there between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. "There are about 20 vendors and an overall feeling of abundance", quips market organizer (and Preserve & Serve board member, remember?), Nicole Riby. She proudly notes that many locals—including 15+ people from the Village Garden—attended this first canning demo at the market, adding to the community minded-feel of the event, reinforcing the St Johns neighborhood spirit. "Everything here just knits together." And, it's true. From the play space to the kitchen library to the market to plans for the future, St Johns seems to be "creating something bigger than the sum of its parts. People are drawn into our programs, events, and offerings, which are all connected, and it then takes on a life of its own."
Swap N Play Community Sharing
7535 N Chicago
Portland, OR
503.544.3996
www.swapnplay.wordpress.com
North Portland Preserve & Serve Library
7535 N Chicago
Portland, OR
503.544.2843
www.preserveandserve.org
