Teen renovates Menomonee Falls food pantry

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. (CBS 58) -- An ambitious effort from a local teen brings new life to a hometown food pantry. 

The Falls Area Food Pantry wanted to brighten up its space with some new paint, but they ended up getting so much more. 
A volunteer designed a complete transformation, but they had no way to make it happen. 

That is when Gavin Wozniak stepped in. He was looking for an eagle scout project and reached out to the pantry. Then, he took on the ambitious plan of completing the transformation. 

On Wednesday, Aug. 7, the pantry held an open house to show it off. 

"It's kinda like, hard when you're doing this because nobody's in here, you don't really get to see how it's impacting people. But today, seeing how many people came out for this, I'm actually really happy and I'm just glad I got to see how many people that my project is touching," said Wozniak.

The executive director of the pantry talked about how the renovation is so much more than just new paint, furniture and signs. 

"It's created a completely different uplifting atmosphere for people who are in a moment of struggle in their life, and so it's just, it's transformed not only the rooms, but the atmosphere and the lives of the people it touches, and that's what touches my heart," said Widge Liccione, executive director at the food pantry. 

Wozniak says it took him several months to plan the project, including doing recruitment, fundraising, and coming up with an operations plan, even before making any of the physical changes.