PORT ANGELES — While the food-centric holiday season can sharpen the focus on hunger and elicit a spirit of generosity to help others, food insecurity doesn’t disappear like the decorations that are put into storage only to appear again the following year.
For an increasing number of families and individuals on the North Olympic Peninsula, putting food on the table has become a persistent struggle.
Food Banks and other organizations involved in hunger relief in Clallam and Jefferson counties say they are seeing more food insecurity — when the ability to acquire adequate food is uncertain or limited by a lack of money and other resources — among all ages and demographics. They are working in a number of different ways to meet demand, from food distribution to soup kitchens to neighborhood pantries.
Patricia Hennessey said the uptick in demand over the 12 months since she was hired as executive director of the Jefferson County Food Bank Association in November 2023 has been dramatic.
“There has been a 23 percent increase in the number of folks coming through our door,” she said of JCFBA’s four food banks it operates in Brinnon, Port Townsend, Quilcene and Tri-Area. “That pencils out to an average of 3,400 households a month. That’s roughly 18 percent of the population of Jefferson County.”
The Port Angeles Food Bank experienced a 40 percent increase in visits in 2024, Executive Director Emily Dexter said. Of those who visit, 20 percent are first-timers. People are visiting more frequently as well, she said.
While food insecurity is linked to poverty, that isn’t always the case. Those who earn too much money to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, can still be pressed to make ends meet.
Visits to the food bank mean money otherwise spent on groceries can be spent on other needs.
“Gas, prescriptions, rent, everything,” Dexter said.
Hennessey said hunger relief organizations like food banks see first-hand what is happening in communities.
“Food insecurity isn’t about someone missing a meal, it’s a symptom of barriers to employment, education, housing, health care,” she said.
Although grocery prices have slowed over the past year, food costs are up about 23 percent since 2020.
Food banks aren’t immune from those increases; the recent avian flu outbreak caused the price they pay for eggs to double, from $3 to $6 a dozen, Hennessey and Dexter said.
At the same time, donations and federal assistance have not kept pace.
Dexter said if hunger often is invisible, then so is food assistance. Nevertheless, it makes a difference in the lives not just of individuals but the well being of communities.
“What you don’t see is the person you just walked next to on the street saved $500 a month by getting their food at the food bank and they were able to fix their car and keep their job,” she said.
The following list of local food resources comes from WSU Clallam and Jefferson county extensions.
CLALLAM COUNTY
• OlyCAP Senior Nutrition program for qualified low-income seniors provides boxes of food. Deliveries are made in Forks, Port Hadlock, Port Angeles and Sequim. Call to enroll, 360-452-4726.
Port Angeles
• Blue Mountain RV Park, 256832 U.S. Highway 101, Port Angeles Food Bank mobile market, from 11 a.m. to noon Tuesdays.
• Emerald RV Mobile Park, 1215 U.S. Highway 101, Port Angeles Food Bank mobile market, from 11 a.m. to noon Mondays.
• Fairchild Heights Apartments, 2301 W. 18th St., Port Angeles Food Bank mobile market, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays.
• Food Not Bombs, Jessie Webster Park, free vegan or vegetarian lunch, second and fourth Saturdays of the month, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• Lower Elwha Klallam, 22 Spokwes Drive, food pantry for members of the tribal community, 360-504-3678, ext. 7690.
• Lutheran Family Services food bank, 2610 S. Francis St., 360-461-5911.
• Peninsula College Student Union Building, Pirate Pantry (from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday) and grab-and-go snacks (from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday) for students with a current school ID, piratepantry@pencol.edu.
• Port Angeles First United Methodist Church, 110 E. Seventh St., free dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, 360-452-8971.
• Port Angeles Food Bank, 632 N. Oakridge Drive, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, 360-452-8568.
Port Angeles Food Bank mobile market
• Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St., lunch with suggested donation of $4 (60 and older) and $8 (younger than 60), from noon to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday; OlyCap mobile market from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesdays; Port Angeles Food Bank mobile market from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, 360-457-7004.
• Port Angeles Seventh-day Adventist Church PAHotmeals food truck; Safeway, 110 E. Third St., intersection of Third and Laurel streets, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays and Wednesdays; Peninsula Behavioral Services, 118 E. Eighth St., from noon to 1 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month.
• Salvation Army, 123 S. Peabody St., free meals and food pantry. Call for days and times, 360-452-7679.
• Serenity House, 2203 W. 18th St., breakfast, lunch and dinner every day except Wednesday (just breakfast) for guests and drop-ins, 360-452-7224.
• St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 132 E. 13th St., friendship dinners, 5 p.m. Wednesdays, 360-457-4122.
• The Answer for Youth (TAFY), 826 E. First St., free meals for individuals and families up to 35 years old, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays, 360-670-4363.
Port Angeles Little Free Pantries
• 316 S. Cherry St., intersection Fourth and Cherry streets on the west side of street.
• 301 E. Lopez Ave., Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, southeast corner of the parking lot shared with North Olympic Library System).
• 2610 S. Francis St., outside Lutheran Family Services.
• 1140 W. Ninth St., southeast corner of Ninth and E streets.
• 1134 E. Park Ave., outside Peninsula College dorms.
• 254 N. Bagley Creek Road, just north of U.S. Highway 101.
• 1422 S. Cedar St., at Cedar and 15th streets, just south of Elks Playfield.
• 3430 E. U.S. Highway 101, Suite 3, for Reflections Counseling Services clients.
• 1236 W. 15th St., at the intersection of 15th and F streets, across from Stevens Middle School.
• 325 E. Sixth St., outside First Step Family Support Center.
• 1210 E. Front St., in the alley behind Healthy Families of Clallam County.
• 1026 E. First St., outside North Olympic Healthcare Network’s Eastside Health Center at the corner of Chambers and First streets.
Sequim food resources
• Sequim Food Bank, 144 W. Alder St., distribution from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays; deliveries Monday and Thursday, 360-683-1205
• OlyCap at Serenity House Thrift Store parking lot, 551 W. Washington St., mobile free food market for income-qualified individuals of all ages, 360-460-4150.
• Calvary Chapel Sequim Ramen Shop, 138 W. Washington St., free or by-donation lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, 360-683-5995.
• Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Food Bank for tribal members and home meal deliveries for elders, 1033 Old Blyn Highway, by appointment, 360-683-1109.
• King’s Way Foursquare Church food pantry, 1023 Kitchen-Dick Road, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays, 360-683-8020.
• Sequim Seventh-day Adventist Church, breakfast served at the Sequim Food Bank, 144 W. Alder St., from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the first and third Sundays of the month, 360-683-7373.
Sequim Little Free Pantries
• 610 N. Fifth Ave., outside Olympic Peninsula YMCA Sequim branch.
• 1700 Carlsborg Road, on the south side of Old Olympic Highway at Carlsborg Road.
• 777 N. Fifth Ave., Suite 109, for Sequim Free Clinic and Chronic Healthcare Clinics patients and their families, 360-582-2976.
• 1033 N. Barr Road, Agnew, south of Old Olympic Highway next to Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s Little Free Library.
• West Fir Street, between Fifth and Seventh streets next to the community garden.
West End
Beaver Little Free Pantry
• 200361 U.S. Highway 101, at the intersection of West Lake Pleasant Road and Taylor Street behind Beaver Grocery Store.
Forks Food Resources
• Forks Community Food Bank, 181 Bogachiel Way, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and from noon to 5 p.m. Thursdays, 360-640-3281.
• Feeding 5000 free lunch, Forks Athletic & Aquatic Club, 91 Maple Ave., at noon Tuesdays.
Forks Little Free Pantries
• 81 S. Second Ave., Mariposa House parking lot.
• 194 S. Elderberry Ave., at the north corner of the Forks High School track.
Joyce Little Free Pantry
• 50724 U.S. Highway 112, at the Crescent Grange.
La Push
• Quileute Food Pantry for individuals living on the Quileute reservation, 50 River Road, LaPush, from noon to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. USDA commodities program for qualified individuals, registration required, 360-374-2147.
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JEFFERSON COUNTY
Brinnon
• Brinnon Food Bank, 151 Corey St., at the Booster Club Building, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, 360-701-0483.
Chimacum
• Little Free Pantry, 9572 Rhody Drive, outside Chimacum Grange.
Coyle
• Coyle mobile food bank, Laurel B. Johnson Community Center, 923 Hazel Point Road, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Wednesdays.
Port Hadlock-Irondale
• Irondale Church, 681 Irondale Road, free community soup dinner, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, 360-385-1720.
• Community United Methodist Church, 130 Church Lane, Port Hadlock, food pantry and clothes closet, from 10 am. to 1 p.m. Saturdays; soup kitchen from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays, 360-385-1579.
• OlyCAP meals for seniors at the Tri-Area Community Center, 760 Chimacum Road; voluntary donation of $3 per meal (age 60 and older) and guest charge of $8; 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Call 24 hours ahead for reservations, 360-390-4013.
• Tri-Area Food Bank, 760 Chimacum Road, Port Hadlock, at the Tri-Area Community Center, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays.
• Port Hadlock Little Free Pantry, 681 Irondale Road, at the Irondale Church.
Port Townsend
• OlyCAP free mobile market for households that meet federal income limits, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursdays in the upper parking lot of Caswell-Brown Village, 142 Mill Road; from noon-2 p.m. Thursdays in the back parking lot of the Jefferson County Library in Port Hadlock, 620 Cedar Ave., 360-385-2571.
• Recovery Cafe, 939 Kearney St., free lunch, from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 360-385-5292.
Port Townsend Little Free Pantries
• 1045 10th St., at Dove House Advocacy Services.
• 1925 Blaine St., at the Port Townsend Food Bank.
• 939 Kearney St., at Dove House Recovery Cafe.
• 1020 Jefferson St., at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
• 1505 Franklin St., at Seventh-day Adventist Church Better Living Center.
Quilcene
• Quilcene Food Bank, 294952 U.S. Highway 101, at the Quilcene Community Center, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, 360-765-0904.
