A front yard food pantry in Northwest Detroit is serving hundreds of families a week.
The homeowner calls them “blessing boxes” -- an effort inspired by her late son who died of a drug overdose.
“After my son passed away, I just wanted to do something nice and have his picture out here,” Nikki Lee said.
The motto is ‘leave what you can, take what you need.”
What started as one box last March has grown into four boxes, a bread bin and a full pantry inside stocked with food items, hygiene products and the overdose antidote Narcan.
Hundreds of families each week visit the boxes to pick out what they need and receive a grocery bag full of supplies from inside.
“I just smile (and) give them the bag of groceries and I tell them to come back as often as they want,” Lee said.
Andrea Rosales, a mother of six children living in the neighborhood, visits the boxes often.
“It’s been a perfect blessing when it comes to groceries and making ends meet,” Rosales said.
She said this is especially true with rising grocery prices.
“It’s been extremely hard to the point where you really don’t even know what to do but finding this type of resource has literally been a lifeline,” Rosales said.
In January, Lee said 775 families visited her blessing boxes.
“I love helping them,” she said. “It’s one of the only things that makes me happy like every day I can count on it. I get up and load the boxes, (I know) people are going to come here, they’re going to smile and be grateful and I’m going to smile back.”
The donations come from a variety of sources, from individual donors to big organizations like Food Rescue US – Detroit.
Some donations are dropped off on her porch while others are ordered through Target or Walmart delivery and Amazon Wishlist.
The NW Detroit Blessing Boxes are located at 11640 West Parkway Street, Detroit, MI.
Donations can be sent to her house, dropped off or ordered through her Amazon Wishlist.
Items that make for good donations include canned meat, tuna helpers, juices, shelf-stable milk, toothbrushes, toothpaste, personal hygiene items and feminine hygiene items. Pet food and supplies are also welcome.