Bringing in donations to Stepping Stones of Dunn County. (Submitted photo)

For nearly four decades, Stepping Stones of Dunn County has been helping meet the basic needs of Chippewa Valley residents by providing food, housing, and support.

The Menomonie-based nonprofit has served 3,000 people a month through its food pantry program this year alone. The pantry operates five days a week at 1602 Stout Road, and Stepping Stones also holds periodic pop-up pantries in six locations around rural Dunn County: Sand Creek, Ridgeland, Downsville, Colfax, Elk Mound, and Rock Falls. (Find full pantry locations and hours at  steppingstonesdc.org/food-pantry-program.) And Stepping Stones’ Project SAM (Share-A-Meal) keeps kids fed on weekends during the school year and even the summer with take-home bags of food.

Last year alone, Stepping Stones distributed 615,000 pounds of food.

Dana Neil, Stepping Stones’ assistant director, said demand for the food pantry’s services has been rising. “The need is out there,” she said. “Every food pantry is seeing their numbers spike.”

Stepping Stones is the charity beneficiary of this year’s Chippewa Valley Restaurant Week, which runs Sept. 15-24 at two dozen participating restaurants around the region. Specifically, a share of proceeds from the First Taste Culinary Crawl on Thursday, Sept. 14, and the Farm & Orchard Trolley Tour on Saturday, Sep. 23, will go to Stepping Stones. 

Stepping Stones was founded in 1986 when several local churches created the Community Connections Program to provide support services to senior citizens and those with disabilities. A few years later, the organization began to provide shelter for the homeless, which now consists of two houses that have been converted into five apartments. A 20-bed emergency shelter, now under construction, is scheduled to open later this year.

The food pantry began in 1996 in the basement of Stepping Stones’ shelter, and growing demand led to several successive moves. In 2011, the pantry moved into its current home at 1602 Stout Road, which provides more space for intake, storage, and offices.

In a quiet, picturesque town like Menomonie, it’s easy for many residents to forget that some of their neighbors have trouble finding adequate food and shelter. Stepping Stones exists to remind them otherwise, and to harness their compassion to meet those needs.

“The thing we say here is this is the community helping out the community,” Neil said.

Learn more about Stepping Stones of Dunn County and its programs by visiting steppingstonesdc.org, calling (715) 235-2920, or finding them on Facebook and Instagram.