Forest Park is where the arts percolate and then manifest themselves in some cross between progressive ideals and entrepreneurialism.
Just formed is the Forest Park Makers Collective. These are three already active villagers who know their way around wood, power tools and doing good.
KC Mutchler, Geoff Binns-Calvey and Alec Bloyd-Peshkin were already friends bound together by a desire to build things. They took that energy and decided they’d create a project that raised some money for a cause while also creating a product they were proud of.
They took a batch of donated table tops and crafted them into 54 cutting boards. They’ve now sold most of them and have donated the proceeds, a cool $6,205, to the Chicago Abortion Fund.
The trio point out that Illinois is “an island of reproductive freedom surrounded by states where it is not.” Providing funding to the group was their collective choice.
Now they plan to undertake two or three projects a year, each with the potential to generate a minimum of $5,000. One of the next nonprofits they are looking into supporting could offer help to trans kids and gender-affirming care.
“Times are getting a little crazy,” says Binns-Calvey. “And we have to look out for each other. That’s kind of the basis for all this.”
We applaud that care.