Muskego Food Pantry Gets Warm Response to Get a New Fridge

Wendy Gajewski was shopping for a faucet with her husband at an appliance store in West Allis when a simultaneous solution and problem caught her attention.

The volunteer for the Muskego Food Pantry noticed a commercial sized refrigerator on the sales floor at DA Berther, Inc., and asked the sales person how much the large unit cost, as it was the perfect size for the needs at the pantry.

"He told me it was about $2,600, which was marked down substantially from its regular price of about $8,000, and that they had about five of them," Gajewski said.

That was Wednesday, April 17. Gajewski told the salesperson to hold one of the refrigerators until the end of the day Friday the 19th.

"I was pretty sure we could get support but I knew I had to get to work, and we reached out first to those people who have been most generous to us in the past. St. Paul's Lutheran told us they would give us half the cost if we could garner the rest from other outside donations," she explained.

Gajewski asked, and Muskego Patch posted a plea on Facebook on Thursday, which was eventually shared and seen by more than 1,200 people. By noon on Friday, pledges and donations received by the pantry allowed them to purchase the 49-cubic foot model. 

The pantry has refrigerators, Gajewski said, but they are often the older models that aren't very big or very energy efficient.

"Despite its size, it may actually be less expensive to run than the others," she added.  

The pantry will post a list of the donors on the front of the refrigerator, not unlike a proud parent would put up a great report card from their kid, where recipients of its contents will know who to thank.