Volunteers, community step up as Stoddard Food Pantry battles food insecurity

By ANASTASIA PENCHI

Dec. 27. 2025

STODDARD, Wis. – The Stoddard Area Food Pantry has humble beginnings. It began when a now-deceased tavern owner worried that children in the community weren’t getting enough to eat. So a group of four or five people gathered to address the issue and St. Matthew’s Church in Stoddard offered up some space and tables. The Stoddard Lions Club purchased a refrigerator or two and from there the seeds of an idea grew into a community fixture.

Volunteers eventually opened the food pantry in the church basement in 2005. At that time each pantry user received one bag of mostly non-perishable food and vouchers for milk and juice from Kwik Trip.

Today’s food pantry has evolved. It’s been moved to a bigger room in St. Matthew’s basement. Today at least 10 volunteers are needed to haul in and put away all the food that has been provided by the Hunger Task Force and Kwik Trip, the individual and community group donations, and additional food pantry purchases. The families using the pantry are getting several bags of quality food including meat, produce and dairy.

Both pantry use and community support continues to grow.

WORRY AND TOUGH TIMES

“Economic times have forced many in our community to suffer from food insecurity,” according to the Stoddard Area Food Pantry’s Facebook Page. “We define ‘need’ as a short or long term requirement for groceries or a supplemental need when bills or circumstances may be overwhelming.”

Organizers say local need has almost doubled during the past year.

Mike Levendoski, on site manager, has volunteered for the pantry for 10 years. He greets users, takes their information and remembers most names. He uses dignity and respect to connect with people. On the day of this interview (December 16, 2025) the pantry set a new record of 49 households served.

“We were fearful we wouldn’t be able to serve people as they walked in the door,” Levendoski said as programs for low-income families were being eliminated and grocery prices were increasing.

“It is the hardest part to come in and ask people for help,” Levendoski said. “A set of tires for a car can screw a budget.”

Volunteers fill bags with food that each visitor needs, and use carts to transport groceries to their vehicle. Many volunteers have stories about pantry users who break down with emotion during visits. Recently, a woman in her 60s or 70s started crying while selecting canned vegetables. She felt bad using the pantry because she had some money, she told volunteers, but if she used it to buy food, she wouldn’t be able afford to pay her bills. The woman seemed better after a volunteer explained that she was exactly the type of person food pantries were created for, and that this volunteer had also used food pantries during her own difficult times.

Open every Tuesday from 2:30-5:30 p.m., Levendoski said while most come regularly, some come only when school starts because funds are tight when buying school clothes and supplies. Others come only during the holidays or when property taxes are due.

Levendoski said pantry volunteers are important to its success, and many have been there for years. Those volunteers have witnessed pantry users step up for community members after tragedy. They see grandparents raising their grandchildren. The users are their neighbors.

THE COMMUNITY REPONDS

The Stoddard Area Food Pantry is in the process of applying for non-profit 501(c)(3) status. It has no income limits or boundary restrictions for users. One needs only view its Facebook Page to see the community’s response to local hunger. There are too many featured donors to include.

Several Stoddard-based groups are frequent helpers including the Chad Wild Myhre Memorial group and Stoddard Lions.

The holidays were particularly inspiring as the Stoddard American Legion held a recent Breakfast with Santa food drive. River Bank in Stoddard held a food drive; as did Genoa State Bank and the Mississippi Steamers 4-H Club. The Village of Chaseburg tree lighting event benefited the food pantry, too.

John Cina Seven, a memorial group based in Genoa, donated money. Students at St. Charles School in Genoa do regular food drives; and St. Matthew’s elementary students donated funds collected through penny wars.

 Other recent donors include the Lower Coon Valley Churches, Coon Valley Business Association & Bingo, Chaseburg Snowtrailers, Westby Co-op Credit Union, the Federated Youth Foundation and Vernon Electric. And there are many inspiring individual and family donations.

And Stoddard Village Hall is a food donation drop-off site.

“Within the last two years we’ve had excellent community support,” Levendoski said. “Everybody has been chipping in and doing their part.”

“It’s been wonderful and we need every one of them,” he added.

Karla Strayer, who serves on the food pantry board, said the Hunger Task Force of La Crosse provided more than 38,000 pounds of food (mostly meat and bakery) to the pantry this year. Another big donor is Kwik Trip, which donates close-to-expiration products. The food pantry has also received grants from Kwik Trip to purchase butter and milk.

Strayer has pages of these donations in her binder. The Stoddard Labor Day Committee made sure everyone received turkeys and trimmings for Thanksgiving. A volunteer donated hams in his children’s’ names for Christmas; and the De Soto School District FFA donated fresh fruit from its fruit sales.

And it keeps on coming.

“The generosity right now has been overwhelming in a positive way,” Strayer said.

Anastasia Penchi

Anastasia Penchi is veteran writer who spent 13 years as a newspaper journalist and now works as a freelance writer. You may have seen her work in Coulee Region Women’s magazine, the Great Rivers Road blog and Explore La Crosse. Her passions are helping people in poverty and trying to save traditional journalism. She resides in Genoa and is a board member with Couleecap Inc. She can be reached at callmeloislane@hotmail.com.