Nonprofits | Key Peninsula News

KP Partnership for a Healthy Community Goes Independent

As the Key Peninsula Partnership for a Healthy Community approaches its 6-year anniversary under the leadership of executive directors Ben and Susan Paganelli, the organization has filed for its own 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. more

Krisa Bruemmer, KP News | 10/28/21

KP Community Council Faces Funding Crisis

For the first time since 2017 the Key Peninsula Community Council will no longer have a paid office manager and will depend on volunteers to keep the office in the Key Center Corral open. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 10/28/21

Shabadrang (Christin) Khalsa aka Bam Bam shows off her skills.

Skate Night Ready to Roll Under New Management

Skate Night returns to the Key Peninsula Civic Center Sept. 10 with roller skate rental and concessions available from 6 to 9 p.m. There is a new Skate Night management team on board eager to get the program back up and running. more

Krisa Bruemmer, KP News | 9/1/21

More Than a Food Bank, GHP FISH Breaks Ground on New Digs

After decades of cramming food and clothing into rented spaces splitting at the seams, FISH broke ground on its own new facility at a private ceremony July 13. more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 8/28/21

County and Coalition Embrace ‘No Wrong Door’ Approach to Ending Homelessness

An RV and two custom truck trailers set up shop in the parking lot of the Key Peninsula Civic Center. It was the KP’s first visit from the New Hope Mobile Resources Response Team, a collective effort to bring services to people experiencing homelessness on the peninsula. more

Chris Rurik, KP News | 8/28/21

Hugh McMillan center, with school board directors Lori Glover, David Olson, Deborah Krishnadasan, Natalie Wimberley and Chuck West.

The Hugh McMillan Community Center is Born

In a brief private ceremony at Evergreen Elementary School, Hugh McMillan of Lakebay was honored by the Peninsula School District board of directors with the official naming of the gymnasium building as the future home of the Hugh McMillan Community Center. more

Lisa Bryan, KP News | 6/30/21

2023-24 Resource Directory

(Click the photo for the full directory!) Help is here! Directory of community resources in the Key Peninsula/Gig Harbor area. Not sure where to start? Call 2-1-1 or visit wa211.org. more

6/22/21

KPHS Board of Directors with Sen. Emily Randall in 2019.

$100,000 Grant for Vaughn Library Hall Restoration

The Key Peninsula Historical Society received a substantial boost for the restoration of the 1893 Vaughn Library Hall with the award of a $100,000 grant included in the state’s 2022-23 budget. more

Joseph Pentheroudakis, KP News | 5/28/21

Flag-Flying Boy Scout Earns Eagle Scout Badge

What does it take to become an Eagle Scout? Between earning at least 21 merit badges and demonstrating scout spirit and leadership within the troop, the journey can take up to six years to … more

Kamryn Minch, KP News | 4/28/21

The load collected by “Key Pen It Clean” volunteers April 17 along 94th Avenue NW.

KP Volunteers Unite for Roadside Cleanup

A group of KP residents have organized online to deal with roadway trash on the Key Peninsula. The first “Key Pen It Clean” event was started by Sierra Fairley in mid-December 2020. … more

Matthew Dean, KP News | 4/28/21

RoxAnne Simon Is Paying It Forward on the KP

RoxAnne Simon might be a relative newcomer to the Key Peninsula by the standards of some old timers, but that hasn’t stopped her from having a big impact on the community. more

Ted Olinger, KP News | 4/28/21

New cedar railing for the ADA ramp on the 100-year-old building.

KP Community Services Puts $100K County Grant to Work

The Key Peninsula Community Services building in Home is a bit of a head-turner these days. Exciting changes are in the works inside and out for the nearly 100-year-old structure, home to the former Lakebay Elementary School until the 1940s. more

Kamryn Minch, KP News | 1/27/21

CISP Site Coordinator Sammi Firman loads food at Key Peninsula Middle School.

Local Groups and Schools Respond to Pandemic

Communities in Schools of Peninsula, whose mission is to identify at-risk students and surround them with a community of support, has been serving students on the Key Peninsula and in Gig Harbor for nearly two decades. When the pandemic closed schools in March 2020, the organization had to adjust quickly. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 1/27/21

Lives have been saved by signs posted by the coalition on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and in local parks.

Local Group Combats Suicide in Pandemic

The Gig Harbor-Key Peninsula Suicide Prevention Coalition was formed in 2012 after two local teens died by suicide in close succession. The coalition has since developed programs to support survivors and their loved ones and to train for prevention. more

Caleb Galbreath & Ted Olinger, KP News | 1/27/21

Changing of the Guard at KP Community Council

Chuck West of Lakebay, who served three previous terms as president, was again elected president of the Key Peninsula Community Council by a vote of its seated 2021 directors during its regular meeting Dec. 9 via Zoom. more

Staff Report | 12/30/20

Many hands make light work as FB4K volunteers sort, pack and load food into waiting cars.

Backpacks for Kids Steps Up in Time of Need

Food Backpacks 4 Kids, now just over a decade old, transformed during the pandemic. In a matter of months, the organization more than doubled the amount of food going to families. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 12/30/20

KP Bischoff Food Bank Forced to Move

Key Peninsula Bischoff Food Bank must vacate its current location at 1916 Key Peninsula Highway NW, having outlasted its welcome on the rental property it has called home since June 2013 based on a verbal agreement with the late Jim Solberg to pay $800 a month in rent. more

Lisa Bryan, KP News | 12/2/20

Key Peninsula News Wins 14 Statewide ‘Better Newspaper’ Awards

For the third consecutive year, the Key Peninsula News won top honors for writing, photography and advertising in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2020 Better Newspaper Contest, held Oct. 9. more

Staff Report | 10/29/20

KP Council Hosts Candidate Forum Online

Ten candidates for six local public offices ranging from the Washington State House of Representatives to Pierce County Assessor-Treasurer participated in a 90-minute candidate forum online hosted by the Key Peninsula Community Council Oct. 13. more

Staff Report | 10/15/20

Hope Recovery Center Won’t Build on KP

The five-year dream of building a residential addiction treatment center on the Key Peninsula ended in August when the nonprofit Hope Recovery Center board of directors withdrew its application for a conditional use permit. more

Sara Thompson, KP News | 10/1/20