For eight years I’ve volunteered at the Tri Area Food Bank (TAFB), and for four years I was also buying the toys and other items for Tri Area Food Bank to hand out to families with children at Christmas spending over $250 each time. I’m telling The Leader this so they understand my dedication to our community’s Food Bank and its wonderful clients that come through weekly.

When Patricia Hennessey first took control of TAFB it was a huge disaster for many of our volunteers and a disruption to the flow of work. She demanded all copies of both buildings’ keys be handed over to her immediately. Patty could not open anything, so she asked Hannah Stai for help. Stai used to manage a storage unit facility and had a lock pick and she helped. Not only did Hennessy not say thank you she came out yelling at Hannah in front of clients and volunteers, shouting if she a lock pick again she would have Hannah arrested.

I told Hennessey she would go to jail for filing a false police report and she threw a fit and began arguing, I had to leave. Many more abuses happened in the following days. I was forced to write an eight-page letter of complaint to the JFCBA Board and to Craig Uchida. One week later the police arrived at the Food Bank whereupo Patty fired me and Stai. We were given letters “explaining” why we were being fired, yet nothing in the letters made sense or was true of us.

Stai has a disability where she will pass out if she gets too stressed or upset. She asked Hennessey in front of the police officer if she could please sit and calm down for a few minutes before she tried driving. Hennessey told her no, and then turned to the officer and said that if Stai wasn’t gone in the next few minutes she wanted her to be arrested.Stai left and got home a few minutes later only to pass out, hitting her head in the process.

Hennessey forgot to ask me for the box truck key back and instead sent several officers to my house to collect it, wasting their time and taxpayer dollars. Hennesey was unprofessional and lacked even basic people skills. She had many unwarranted outbursts — on video — towards the wonderful volunteers of our small community.

The volunteers deserve better, and the community deserves better — especially when she is being paid $75,000 a year while getting away with doing such a horrible job. This year Santa’s toys will be at the Library Food Bank on Dec. 12 with OlyCap foundation volunteers! Unfortunately Hennessey will be receiving a lump of coal.

Lisa Storey

Port Hadlock