A shoe repair shop has finally been able to repair a crucial patching machine thanks to a Torontonian’s viral online video that raised over $15,000.
Back in January, Marsha Shandur was getting the heels on her winter boots fixed at Moneysworth & Best Quality Shoe Repair inside Dufferin Mall when she realized the zipper was also in need of replacing.
She asked the store’s owner and cobbler, Alazar Beyene, if he could fit her boots with a new zipper, but he declined, as his patching machine was broken. After using it for over 23 years, the machine was so old the manufacturer could no longer replace the parts, and a new machine would run him $11,000.
To Beyene, this machine was invaluable. It stitched new zippers, fixed handles on bags, and attached new elastics, among other functions. Without it, he had to send hopeful customers home.
“It was used when I bought it. This [machine] was already 40 years old when I bought it. It’s from the 60s,” he explains to Now Toronto.
Shandur says she decided to rally the community and Beyene’s loyal customers by making a GoFundme page for donations. As of Monday, she has raised $15,689.
“I put up the fundraiser. I thought, maybe in four or five months, we might get [to our goal]. And it was January, so I thought, no one’s going to be donating after Christmas,” she explains.
Within three weeks, Shandur raised the full $11,000. She says she posted a video about the campaign on Instagram and Tiktok, and it went viral. It’s been three months and she still gets comments from people because her video is still circulating on social media.
@yesyesmarsha @alazarthecobbler KEEP THE FAITH in humanity!!! Stay to the end for b-roll of me looking awkward af 🙃 Link to support in bio, or go to https://gofund.me/042ae0c82 THANK YOU!! #dufferinmall #thedirtyduff @Dufferin Mall ♬ original sound – Yes Yes Marsha (yym.ca)🇨🇦
“Alazar is such a chill dude. The night that we hit the fundraising goal, I texted five times with like 20 exclamation marks saying, ‘We did it, congratulations!’ Then I’m watching the three little dots. And then just, ‘Congratulations to you also’ from Alazar. That’s it,” she mused.
Beyene says he never expected the fundraiser to meet its goal, but “the love and the support the community showed us is very, very, very, amazing.”
On Monday morning, Now Toronto attended the official unveiling of Beyene’s brand new patching machine. Davenport city councillor Alejandra Bravo was present to cut the ribbon.
When asked why her video blew up, Shandur says it was a bright spot in a bleak news cycle.
“This story really captured people, especially in January. So much of the news cycle was consumed by what was happening with our cousins in the south,” she explains.
“I think so many of us understand that the only way through the mess in the world is to support your local community. And here was a bunch of strangers supporting someone in their community, a small business inside this mall full of multi-million dollar businesses. People wanted to really help in that way.”
Shandur says she’s a huge proponent for fixing stuff she already owns to prevent contributing to the environmental damage caused by the supply chain and overconsumption.
“Instead of buying a new pair of shoes, getting it fixed is the way to go. If you have a pair of shoes you love, you want those to last for years. I would get one small hole that made my foot wet, but the rest of the boot was completely fine. I didn’t want to have to throw it away. And then I discovered Alazar, and I realised I didn’t have to.”
