PORT ANGELES – Members of the Port Angeles Food Bank Board of Directors honored one of their own recently. Tim Crowley announced his retirement from the board after 32-years of service.

At the most recent meeting, Crowley was presented with a framed collage of photos in the shape of a tuna in recognition of the more than two and a half decades that he’s run the annual Tuna Drive, which earned him the nickname “Tuna Tim”. The numbers are staggering. Crowley calculates that in 28 years the Tuna Drive has brought in about $382,000 worth of canned protein, which is the equivalent of nearly 642,000 cans of tuna.

The food bank has come a long way in the years since Crowley joined the board in 1992. Back then, the food bank operated out of the old City Hall building, and eventually moved to Valley Street. In 2020, when a large warehouse became available on Oakridge Drive near Walmart, the board spent months in negotiations to acquire it, and then months more planning for renovations, which are now underway. When new “Market at Port Angeles Food Bank” opens in early August, it will be, in nearly every sense, an experience very much like shopping at a grocery store.

Board President Fran Howell describes Crowley as a “get it done” guy. For his part, Crowley says he won’t be retiring from volunteering. He’s a member of Olympic Kiwanis, which runs the Tuna Drive for the Food Bank, and he intends to see that the program continues.

(PAFB photo: Board President Fran Howell presents Tim Crowley with collage)