MOSES LAKE — Peny Archer first encountered the Moses Lake Food Bank more than 20 years ago. It changed her life. 

Her youngest child was starting school, Archer said in a 2023 interview.

“Because of working and having a career, I had missed a lot of school plays, a lot of things my children were involved in because I had to work,” she said. “I wanted to spend some time with our youngest during the summer and so on. When school started again, I thought ‘You know, I’m going to go to the food bank and volunteer for two hours a week.’” 

That volunteer shift was a revelation, she said. 

“I was overwhelmed at the amount of need,” she said. “Had somebody told me that was going on in Moses Lake, I wouldn’t have believed them. Until I walked in and saw. I even went to the executive director at the time and asked, ‘What’s so special about today?’ and she looked at me and said, ‘This is just a normal day.’ And it was.”

From that first encounter, the food bank was a big part of her life. Even as she had to cut back while battling terminal illness, she was at the food bank – watching as volunteers distributed food at Thanksgiving 2024, promoting the annual toy drive for Christmas, working to ensure people understood the need. 

“That food bank just meant so much to her,” said her daughter, Lexie Wilson.

Archer passed away earlier this week, after, Wilson said, a day spent with family.

Archer could usually be found at the food bank when it was open, both in the old location on Marina Drive and the current facility at 9299 Beacon Drive NE. She directed backroom traffic, kept track of the substantial amount of paperwork that goes with running a nonprofit and talked to clients. She had a smile for every visitor. 

She became assistant general manager in 2005 and took over the job of operations manager in 2010. The operations manager is responsible for – well, everything, basically. 

“It means stuff runs downhill, and I’m there, right at the bottom. I’m the one that catches everything,” she said in 2023.

If the food bank made a big impression on Archer, she made a big impression on Moses Lake.

“The food bank wouldn’t be what it is without her. For sure,” said Moses Lake Mayor Dustin Swartz. 

State Sen. Judy Warnick worked with Archer and the food bank’s directors to get money to build the new facility.

“I have never known anyone as passionate as Archer in the work she did at the food bank,” Warnick said. 

Money was included in the state capital budget for the project; the effort took a while, Warnick said, but Archer persevered.

“She would not give up – she was a pit bull,” Warnick said. “She will be missed. Big time.”

Her commitment caught everybody’s attention. 

“Peny was so dedicated to serving the residents of our community, with passion and drive,” said Debbie Doran-Martinez, president and CEO of the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Friends and longtime food bank volunteers Dale and Sandi Casebolt set up a scholarship in her memory at Big Bend Community College. 

“Peny had been instrumental in serving the community for decades. She was never too busy to help,” Sandi Casebolt wrote in a social media post. 

“She had so many friends it was unbelievable,” said her husband Rich Archer. 

Archer worked getting funding for, then construction of, the current food bank site for about eight years. The Marina Drive site was – well, it worked. Warnick said she was impressed with what Archer managed to do with that building, a little tiny building full of little tiny rooms. 

Moving into the new space in 2022 was a time of anticipation and gratitude.

“I wake sometimes and I'm (asking), ‘Is that a dream? And then I have to sit a minute and (say), ‘No, it’s real. It’s happening,’” she said.

Archer’s family is planning a celebration of life ceremony; rather than flowers, they’re asking that people donate to the food bank in her memory. There’s still work to be done at the food bank – money is being raised for a new building, and donations can be made to that project in her honor. People can volunteer a few hours at the food bank as well. 

Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 683, Moses Lake, WA 98837.

    Peny Archer sits at her desk in the current Moses Lake Food Bank in 2023.
  

    State Sen. Judy Warnick said Peny Archer, left, and her staff made the old food bank on Marina Drive work, even though it was a less-than-ideal location. Peny is pictured at the old facility with former Financial Manager Scott Kilpatrick, center, and a representative from CHS Sun Basin in 2016.