Community Health & Wellness

Key Peninsula food pantry, swamped by demand, eyes an expansion

Posted on November 19th, 2025 By: Conor Wilson

Food banks across the country saw people come in droves these past few weeks as federal workers went unpaid and food assistance benefits were delayed in November. Few, though, saw demand surge like Key Peninsula Community Services.

A record 137 families came to the agency’s tiny food pantry outside Home on Nov. 5, an 80% increase compared to an average day. Manager Brett Higgins said the influx exposed the pantry’s size limitations and funky dimensions. Volunteers quickly tried to usher people in and out while simultaneously restocking the shelves.

Need persists

Asked what the experience was like, he and executive director Robyn Readwin paused for a brief moment before they started laughing. “It was just a long day,” he said.

Brett Higgins, manager of the Key Peninsula Community Services Food Pantry. Photo by Conor Wilson.

With the shutdown over and the state caught up on SNAP food assistance benefits, the external conditions that led to that hectic day are gone. But the need from hungry families is still pushing the food pantry to its limits. Higgins, who has worked at the pantry for 16 years, says it now serves about the same number of families in a day as it previously helped in a month.

The pantry operates out of the basement of a century-old building, below a senior center, and a pair of temporary structures in its parking lot. Need has often pushed the food pantry’s space to its limit, leaving Key Peninsula Community Services eyeing an expansion.

The Key Peninsula Community Services Food Pantry on Nov. 13, 2025. Photo by Conor Wilson

Pantry needs more space

When Readwin took over as executive director last spring, her mission was clear: Build a new space for the food pantry. By next spring – before Higgins’ looming retirement – she hopes to complete a $150,000 renovation using grants funds that would more than double the amount of floor space at the food pantry.

“We will be able to serve clients a lot better,” she said.

The food pantry currently has about 460 square feet of space for shoppers. Refrigerators and shelving covers much of it, creating narrow paths or “pinch points,” as Higgins says. Multiple shopping carts can barely squeeze past each other at the same time.

Wendy Bailey stocks products at the cramped Key Peninsula Community Services food pantry on Nov. 13, 2025. Photo by Conor Wilson

Temporary structures make up a majority of that floor space. The ceilings in the basement, where volunteers bring in deliveries and sort food, are barely six feet tall, making it off-limits to shoppers.

Volunteers walk every client through the pantry. During busy times, they often have to rush clients. Shoppers do not get much time to linger or read labels on the food they buy.

They are not trying to be rude, Higgins says, but with the size limitations, they need to keep people moving through to avoid a line forming outside.

Self-service model

The expansion calls for construction of a 1,000-square-foot structure in the current parking lot that would be ADA-accessible and provide a continuous space for shoppers. It is part of a revolving evolution of the food pantry, as it tries to replicate a more traditional grocery shopping experience.

The pantry, which used to hand out pre-prepared bags, switched to a self-service model in 2023, after Higgins read a book about its benefits. It will also transition to a credit-based system, which would allow families more flexibility in how often they shop.

“Our vision is for it to be like shopping at a 7/11,” Higgins said. “So it’s not a sad experience.”

Key Peninsula Community Services is hosting its Feast or Famine fundraiser from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, at the Gig Harbor Eagles building, 4425 Burnham Dr.

A volunteer helps a shopper at the Key Peninsula Community Services Food Pantry on Nov. 13, 2025. Photo by Conor Wilson