The July closure of the Pick ’n Save in Milwaukee’s Metcalfe Park left the predominantly Black neighborhood, and nearby communities, without a convenient source of fresh food.
Kroger, the grocery chain’s parent company, shut down five Pick ’n Save stores in the Milwaukee area as part of its plan to close 60 stores nationwide over the next 18 months.
The loss of the Metcalfe Park store widened the neighborhood’s food access gap, but it also created opportunities for residents to work together on solutions. That effort has led to a new community-powered fridge.
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges partnered with Tricklebee Café and One MKE to bring the fridge to life. One MKE is a nonpartisan coalition centered on building civic engagement in Milwaukee.
The fridge was unveiled with a ribbon-cutting at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park neighborhood, where a few dozen residents gathered to celebrate.
Maddy Day, the program director of One MKE, opened the event with a few words.
"So, when we heard that there was a Pick n’ Save closing in the Metcalfe Park area we knew we wanted to do something to help out. This fridge isn't supposed to replace the Pick and Save but we're hoping it's a small step in building something bigger," Day says.
A couple other people spoke to guests before cutting the ribbon on the nearly 6-foot-tall freestanding fridge.
Tricklebee Café’s Executive Director Christie Melby-Gibbons says, "When we heard that the grocery store was closing, we got really sad, we got angry, but then we got busy making some real change happen and this is the start of what we’re doing to make sure that everybody still has access to good, healthy food no matter who they are or where they come from."
The fridge is stocked by community members, and anyone is welcome to give or take items for free.
People can add things as fruit, vegetables, deli items or drinks, while shelf-stable goods are also accepted for the pantry.
Deputy Director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges Melody McCurtis says, "Our grocery store closed, but we have been showing up for the past three months, really coming together to figure out some short-term solutions and some long-term goals. So, I just want to say thank you to all of the working groups that’s been working on this. That’s really just been getting in rooms looking at what do we have together, what can we do together — that we can’t do alone, and this is just an extension of that."
McCurtis says her organization is looking for three to five more businesses or organizations to house a community fridge. The ideal places would be open during normal business hours, at least three to four days a week and wheelchair accessible.
She says all those businesses and organizations need to do is offer a location, and groups behind the community fridge effort will handle everything else.
