May 6, 2026
By ANASTASIA PENCHI
GENOA, Wis. – There is a free little food pantry in Genoa thanks to student leaders in Vernon County 4-H who encouraged their peers to address hunger in their communities and the Mississippi Steamers 4-H Club who acted on the idea.
“A lot of kids walk past here,” said Jodi Pedretti, manager at Genoa State Bank, which collaborated with the 4-H club for pantry placement on the bank’s property because the public school bus drop-off is only one block away.
“It’s a good community service,” she added.
Emery Bork, senior 4-H program educator, said Vernon County’s 4-H Youth Leadership Project students challenged the 12 clubs in Vernon County to address hunger and food in their own communities this year.
“Other than the theme and a few parameters, it’s really up to the clubs to explore, create and do what they’d like in relation to the theme,” said Bork.
While some clubs created meal kits or planted community gardens, the Mississippi Steamers wanted to build a free little food pantry ever since their unanimous vote last November, said Stephanie Nicklay, Mississippi Steamers 4-H club leader.
Club members originally wanted to put it near the public library in De Soto, but they changed the location after finding out there were three free little food pantries in that community already.
“In December, we had a large discussion on where to put it,” Nicklay said. “The kids wanted easy access for students in the area.”
Plans were made for a collaboration with Genoa State Bank, which has assisted the 4-H club with other food collections. Families donated supplies. The 4-H club members discussed progress at every monthly meeting, and 14-year-old Sal Trussoni volunteered to build the pantry with help from his dad, Nate, about a month ago.
The little free pantry was installed by the group after the Mississippi Steamers regular meeting on May 3. Seventeen-year-old Grady Nicklay dug the post hole, while other younger club members like Rylee DeFlorian jumped in to help steady the post as cement dried.
The first donations of food for the pantry came from club members and a collection taken at St. Charles Church in Genoa. All are welcome to take as they need and donate as they can, Stephanie Nicklay said.
While this was Nicklay’s final 4-H meeting as leader (she just retired after 11 years), she leaves the Mississippi Steamers in good hands – Jill Krause and Rachel DeFlorian are taking over the position.
Still, Nicklay will be missed, Bork said, because she has been an “absolutely fantastic” club leader and a “supporter of other leaders.”
Nicklay created a map showing the locations where youth entries should be dropped off at the fairgrounds to help prevent entries being denied due to missed deadlines. She also shared the map with other 4-H club leaders.
“This helped families tremendously, as some of them were not allowed to enter due to getting lost and being late,” Bork said. “She always thinks ahead and makes 4-H easy for new families.”
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