Waukesha food pantry's walk-in freezer needs repair, nonprofit seeks help

Waukesha food pantry's walk-in freezer needs repair

A cooler failure at Waukesha?s Friends With Food pantry spoiled milk, produce and other items, forcing the nonprofit to throw out food and divert donations.

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Volunteers at a Waukesha food pantry returned from the holiday weekend to an unfortunate discovery: their walk-in cooler had failed, spoiling hundreds of food items meant for families in need.

What we know:

Friends With Food, a nonprofit pantry that serves anyone regardless of income or residency, was forced to throw away 50 gallons of milk and ship fresh produce to other pantries after its cooler broke down.

Operations Manager Jamie Hardt said seeing the food wasted was heartbreaking.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

"It hurts bad – knowing that it’s food wasted. We’re in the dairy state," Hardt said.

Dig deeper:

Executive Director Rochelle Gamauf said the unit’s compressor and relay switch failed while the building was closed, sending temperatures inside the cooler climbing to 60 degrees. The repair will cost about $5,000 — money that Friends With Food doesn’t have.

"This is about $5,000 in repairs," Gamauf said. "I think everyone shed a tear too – even some of our volunteers when they heard the news."

Friends With Food has seen record demand, serving 1,400 families in August alone.

Gamauf said it’s different from other area pantries because it does not have income or residency requirements.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

"We struggle because we don’t get any state or government funding here," she said. "So every month is, how do we keep the doors open here?"

What you can do:

The pantry, which opened in March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now asking for community support to cover repairs and replenish lost food.

Once the cooler is operational again, leaders say they’ll also need donations of fresh produce, dairy and other essentials.

Those who wish to donate can do so by heading to the Friends With Food website.