Little Blue Pantry helps those in need

Waukesha family stocks food, accepts donations

WAUKESHA - Rhiannon Adams knows the blues can be brought about by many factors, but hunger and need certainly stand out among them.

Which is where her Little Blue Pantry comes in.

The Adams family is among those in the Milwaukee metro area who have erected small food pantry boxes outside their homes — akin to Little Free Libraries and their stock of donated books — to help reach more people in need of essential items, particularly food.

“It’s not just people who don’t have homes and don’t have access to food,” Adams said. “It’s families, college students, elderly, or those who don’t have the means to go to the (Waukesha) Food Pantry. Or sometimes they need a little bit something extra to put on the table.”

The idea was introduced to Rhiannon by her 10-year-old daughter, Ana, prompting her to do some research online about how to set up, manage and serve the inexhaustible demand for charitable help. They even found help through Facebook for a builder to help them construct the blue box that inspired the name.

The Adamses themselves fill the three-shelf box, adjacent to their driveway almost daily. But like little libraries often seen on people’s lawns, the little food pantry is a place people can drop off items, as well, joining in what is essentially a community function.

“Getting the community involved (is key),” she said. “We call ourselves ‘stewards of the box.’ We put the food out there and, of course, contribute food ourselves, but ideally it is something we would encourage the community to take part in.”

If there is no room for donated items in the box itself, donors can place overflow items in a box on her porch, which she uses to replenish the box supply. And it has dwindled in recent weeks. “I have seen people coming and going, but I haven’t looked (closely) at them,” Adams acknowledged, noting some visitors have been those donating food. “Here, we’re located right in downtown Waukesha, so we have a lot broader segment of the community that can have access to the box. We have seen women and men and children walk by.”

Other essentials — such as socks and winter gloves — are welcome, an idea she derived from area “Blessing Boxes” often on church properties.

Her Little Blue Pantry isn’t formally tied to others in Waukesha, many of which are included on a resource page, littlefreepantry.org, listing Blessing Boxes and little pantries, as well as information about the charitable movement and how to get involved.

The coronavirus pandemic this year pushed the family into thinking about helping somehow along these lines, she added. “COVID definitely set it into motion,” Adams said.

In fact, during a recent stretch when the Waukesha Food Pantry was closed for several days after one worker or member tested positive for COVID-19, Adams reached out to those who might be affected, posting on the neighborhood social media site NextDoor about food available in her Little Blue Pantry, as well as other food boxes elsewhere.

Add to that the common annual concerns about helping those in need during the Christmas season, and all winter long, which also played into her decision.

Otherwise, her motivation is quite simply “a human thing.”

“We’re all one community and sometimes it takes a community,” Adams said.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT ASH / NOW NEWS GROUP Ten-year-old Ana Adams restocks food items in the Little Blue Pantry installed outside her home in Waukesha. Ana came up with the idea to install the pantry for those in need throughout her community. The pantry contains a variety of food, clothing and personal hygiene items available to anyone who may be in need. Charitable donations are also welcome and used to replenish the pantry.

Rhiannon and Jose Adams pose for a photo with their children, Ana, left, and Emma, next to the Little Blue Pantry they installed outside their home in Waukesha. Ten-year-old Ana came up with the idea for helping those in need throughout her community.