Woman who started food pantry threatened with criminal charges in WA. Now she’s suing

After a Washington woman started a free pantry in her backyard to help neighbors, her county’s health department shut it down. Now, a civil rights lawsuit has been filed by the Institute of Justice on behalf of her and two women who benefited from the pantry.

Kathy Hay of Clarkston, Washington, started a pantry in her backyard, including canned food, pasta, produce and bread, according to the lawsuit. The suit said that the pantry helped low-income members of the neighborhood, including Dawna Lawson and Lucas “Brooklyn” Anderson, who are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“For 16 years, our family struggled with food and security, and a lot of people don’t understand how hard it is if they don’t struggle with that,” Hay told Reason. “I’m always looking for ways to help people that are having a hard time.”

According to the lawsuit, the Asotin County Health District and County Board of Health said Hay had to shut down the pantry because she didn’t have a permit and didn’t abide by other regulations. The county designated the pantry as a “Donated Food Distributing Organization,” which also applies to food banks and soup kitchens in Washington.

After Hay reopened her pantry after complying with regulations, the county shut it down again, saying she needed to “submit an application and administrative fee for the pantry, as well as limit the foods in the pantry to those that have tamper-evident packaging,” according to the lawsuit.

The county said if she tried to open her pantry again without following their regulations, she could be subject to “criminal charges and financial penalties,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit says that the county and board of health violated Hay’s, Anderson’s and Lawson’s rights to due process.