The Foundry has four days left for their fundraising campaign for purchasing the building the organization is housed in on Northampton Street. You probably remember that they put the call out for donors in May to support the purchase that would also enable them to expand and offer more space to new start-ups and artisans. You can check out their progress on their Indigogo page here.
A new element has come into play during this final week of the fundraising as the Shea family has generously offered to match EVERY dollar from now until the end of the drive. That means if the Foundry can raise less than $10,000 in the next few days the Shea family will provide the matching equivalent and the organization can purchase their building and expand their wonder programming.
Michael Gainer, a founding member of the Foundry explains, “For me it’s about bringing new ideas to life! It’s about supporting entrepreneurs and the people who are the doer’s in our community. It’s about jump-starting a new economy and creating new jobs. The Foundry is a tremendous resource for Buffalo! I’m so proud to be associated with such an amazing community of creators, builders, makers, inventors, and friends. Please share this and help us achieve this most important goal!”
Here is some background information on the Foundry for those still not in the loop. Last May, a small group of folks moved into a recently vacated building on the East Side of Buffalo. We were passionate about using reclaimed and salvaged materials, found objects and trash-picked treasures to create new things, to create new opportunities. When we looked around we saw a world with immense wealth, but extreme waste. We saw an environment providing so much abundance and opportunity, but increasingly in peril. We saw individuals with immense capabilities and talents but little access to opportunities. And we saw a neighborhood and city with so much potential, tremendous assets, people willing to contribute and so we started!
The Foundry is so many great things! It’s a workshop and office space for artists, artisans, tradespeople, small businesses and technology enthusiasts. It serves as a multi-functional community space for performance, education, art and public gatherings. Most importantly it’s a neighborhood anchor institution for artistic expression, creative exchange, and the encouragement of new ideas and action.
The entrepreneurs and small businesses who make up The Foundry are innovators, creators, and makers. They thrive in the creative process, their products are green and local, their strategies and techniques are unique, personal and interconnected. Whether it be making new high quality products from discarded objects and materials, restoring antique furniture, manufacturing new components with a 3D printer or creating a new recipe for the next local brew, new ventures are emerging and growing every day.
The campaign ends in just four more days so tell everyone you know and please consider donating by following this link. Be sure to stay up to date with the Foundry on Facebook as well.