KP Community Services Welcomes a New Director

We are excited to see what the future brings.”

Key Peninsula Community Services welcomed Robyn Readwin as its new executive director in May. KPCS Board President Frank DiBiase said Readwin’s local roots and work background made her the right choice as a replacement. She spent her first month working side-by-side with outgoing director Willow Eaton, who is moving to Florida.

Readwin and her husband moved to Longbranch 20 years ago, built a home, and raised their two sons. Although they moved to the Wauna area in 2014, Readwin said that is as far north as they will ever go. “I love the KP,” she said.

Readwin was the volunteer coordinator at The Mustard Seed Project for four years, then served as an executive assistant for Kitsap County for five years. She worked for two and a half years at PenMet Parks, first as an executive assistant and then as director of administrative services. She said she is delighted to work once again on the KP side of the Purdy Bridge.

KPCS evolved over the nearly six years of Eaton’s leadership. Located in the old Lakebay Elementary School building schoolhouse built in 1926 and used until the mid-1940s, it has a more than four-decade history as a food bank and has been a senior center for at least 35 years.

Shortly after Eaton arrived, COVID hit the country. “It was a trial by fire,” DiBiase said. “Willow excelled in figuring out with staff and volunteers how to keep offering services.”

“We survived Covid without missing one service day, which was a testament to such an amazing team that was here when I arrived,” Eaton said. “People stayed fed and got the services they needed to survive the isolation that came with COVID-19.”

During the pandemic, the in-person lunch program transitioned to drive-through meal distribution. The volunteer pool plummeted, in part because most of them were seniors at high risk of serious impact from COVID. The National Guard came to help distribute food.

The food pantry transitioned to a model of clients selecting food from the shelves rather than receiving a pre-filled food basket. “There is a lot less food waste when people can choose,” Eaton said. The in-person lunch Tuesday through Friday has resumed and is serving nearly the same number of people as prior to COVID, but the number of volunteers working for the organization has not recovered.

Senior programs, including classes, field trips, and the lunch program, fill the building during the week.

“The demand increased tremendously during the pandemic: food insecurity, mental health needs, homelessness,” Eaton said. “And we continue to endeavor to meet those needs.” Eaton brought in grant money to help expand the food pantry space and to establish a homelessness outreach program. (“KP Community Services Receives Grant for Homeless Support,” September 2024.)

“One of the determining factors for bringing Robyn on was that the next step for Community Services to focus on is creating a new space,” Eaton said. “We are bursting at the seams here, and we don’t have enough physical space for the services that the KP needs.”

Readwin’s focus on the food pantry expansion includes working with Bates Technical College. “Bates students will benefit from working on a commercial project, and we will benefit from cost savings,” she said.

“Robyn has the knowledge and capability for project management and seeing the big picture and working with multiple idea streams and revenue streams and bringing it into one consolidated idea and bringing it into reality,” Eaton said.

DiBiase said, “We all feel really solid about Robyn. We are excited to see what the future brings. I expect we will see more innovative things and diverse offerings.”