It’s fun to have coffee with Peter Epperson, even if he doesn’t drink coffee. As if you were a good friend, he might catch you up with a quick story about his granddaughter in Florida or talk about any number of topics. He has lots of stories. Peter has also touched the lives of countless people in our community. He has rescued more than a million pounds of food and raised more than $1.5 million to produce more than a million meals. That’s just part of the story.
After eight years of service, Peter retired from his volunteer position as the Community Involvement Coordinator at The Community Kitchen in Olympia. Operating through Catholic Community Services (CCS), The Community Kitchen serves nutritious lunch and dinner meals on Monday through Saturday throughout the year.
Peter Epperson’s Legacy at The Community Kitchen
Gabriel Ash, Catholic Community Services director of housing and homeless service, compiled a record of some of Peter’s highlights with the organization. “During his time with CCS, Peter partnered with others to serve over a million meals!” shares Gabriel. “1,081,393 meals to be precise. The reason I can tell you exactly how many meals, is due to Peter’s meticulous record keeping.”
He goes on to enumerate:
- Peter has provided kind coordination of hundreds of volunteers.
- Helped to improve the environmental practices at The Community Kitchen.
- Kept data tracking all the many meals the program has served.
- Jumped in and helped another Catholic Community Services program, the Kitsap HEN program during that program’s time of need and commuted out to the program.
- Was always a strong advocate for his coworkers.
- Brought his many skills to bear during the pandemic when The Community Kitchen had to adapt and take on a totally new service mode and additional work during the pandemic.
- Peter has been the force behind the popular Thurston Hunger Walk, a fundraiser that has seen huge increases in support since its inception.
- Was willing to jump in as a program supervisor in order to keep the program going when other teammates had to step away.
“Peter can do it all,” adds Gabriel, “grant writing, hiring, supervision, data analysis, community relations, construction of large sneeze-guards, maintenance, fundraising, quality improvement, and yet he’s not above getting his hands dirty and washing dishes, leading meal preparation and service.
“Peter has many skills, and he chose to use those skills to improve the lives of those in need in Thurston County through coordinating daily delivery of warm and nutritious meals and through heart-warming connections with our volunteers. Both were provided, without fail, thanks to Peter’s dedicated work, for the past eight years.”
Betty Gebhardt is a committee member of the Little Free Pantry in Tumwater who also knows Peter. “Beyond even these very impressive statistics, Peter has woven a network of support and understanding of the many other entities involved in addressing food insecurity. I venture to say, he probably is one of the most knowledgeable advocates in our county,” she notes.
A Bit of History and Lesser Known Claims to Fame for Peter Epperson
Graduated from Evergreen in 1981, after studying film and communication. Through his career, Peter was involved with grant writing and agency development for places such as South Puget Sound Community College and Senior Services of South Sound. “I was born into it,” he explains. His parents founded what became the oldest community theater in Chicago. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a salesman for Marshall Fields, but both were deeply involved in the theater arts with acting and directing.
Peter claims to have been kissed by a movie star. It happened at the Walworth County Fair in Elkhorn, Wisconsin when he was only eight or nine. Peter was on stage with Lassie, and the dog (all nine Lassies were males) licked him, which counts as a kiss.
At age 11, he sat on Ned Locke’s lap. ‘Ringmaster Ned’ was the TV personality and radio announcer for WGN-TV’s Bozo’s Circus Time.
Peter also worked on lighting for shows at the Puyallup Fair for Sherri Lewis and Bill Cosby
He founded The Evergreen Organic Farm Harvest Festival in 1980. “It went for 44 consecutive years,” says Peter.
Imported an atomic bomb…sort of. Of course, there’s a story involving an exploding puppet from Japan that was part of a children’s outdoor program he worked with.
Other highlights include:
- Reinvigorated the Tacoma Little Theater
- Produced the award winning ‘Trunk Theater’ program for Tacoma Parks
- Helped open SPSCC’s branch campus in Lacey
- Founded and led ‘The Young Producer’s Network’ at TCTV
The Future for Peter Epperson
After years of active volunteer service, Peter is taking time with other aspects of his life. “I am not writing it ahead of time like everything else. It evolves,” he says. Peter lives with the love of his life Carolyn. He’s working on getting his house in order and plans a little travel. He likes to swim and fish.
While he’s home at his 3.5-acre property he’s growing tomatillos and garlic, which will make their way into his own green sauce. You might find him shopping at The Co-op. He’s grandpa to 1-year-old Cora who lives in Florida, whom he visits every three months. Next time you see him, ask him about the 350-pound blue marlin in Kona. That’s another story.
Thank you, Peter, for your diligent attention to the care of our community. You make a difference.