This Toronto cobbler’s most valuable machine broke. His customers raised $10k to replace it.

For nearly a quarter century, Alazar Beyene has been repairing shoes. When a key piece of equipment broke down, those who rely on his services stepped up.

For nearly a quarter of a century, Alazar Beyene has been repairing shoes.

Ten hours per day, seven days a week, he toils in a tucked-away corner of the Dufferin Mall.

It isn’t glamorous work, but it’s kept the Eritrean-born immigrant on stable footing since coming to Canada. That all changed last month, when his patching and stitching machine unexpectedly broke down.

“This (machine) is my right hand,” Beyene told CTV News Toronto. “If I have a broken strap on a bag, if I need to change zippers on boots, or put elastics on sandals, it all needs stitching.”

The owner of Moneysworth and Best Quality Shoe Repair says fixing the cornerstone of his cobbling business wasn’t in the cards. The patching machine is over 50 years old.

The Montreal-based company that built it no longer services or repairs such dated technology. Beyene decided to diversify, focusing on key cutting instead. But his customers had no intention of losing their community cobbler.

“I came in to get my zipper fixed and he told me he couldn’t,” said Marsha Shandur, a loyal customer. “Then he told me it would cost $10,000 to fix. I told him I wished I had $10,000 to give him. We’re in the Dufferin Mall, a sea of multi-billion dollar international companies. So I thought, maybe the community might help.”

Shandur’s bet paid off.

In less than a month, a GoFundMe she organized has raised nearly the entire amount needed to source and replace his broken machine. A new unit is waiting to be shipped from Germany.

“He has so much integrity,” said Shandur, a storytelling and presentations coach and trainer. “I brought him shoes that he will not fix because he says the mend won’t last. I took them somewhere else and they mended it for $30, but it broke in one week.”

Beyene was initially skeptical of the online fundraising effort, going so far as to ask Shandur if what she was proposing was legal.

He wasn’t prepared for the flood of donations that quickly followed, not just in his own community but also from Texas, California and even Thailand.

“The love and support they showed me. I understand how much they appreciate my service,” said Beyene.

“It’s very easy to feel depressed right now,” said Shandur. “Depressed about the way people are treating each other. But something like this shows that people are still willing to help a stranger because there is good. There’s still humanity left. There’s still empathy. We still care about each other.”

Paying that spirit forward, Beyene and Shandur have vowed any funds raised, over and above their goal, will be donated to the Maquila Solidarity Network, a charity that supports the rights of workers in the global garment and footwear industries.