Tri-Area Food Bank managers John and Sue Laird were ousted from their positions last Tuesday. John Laird said he was given the choice of resigning or being sued.

It is not clear at this point why the managers were removed. Patricia Hennessy, executive director of the Jefferson County Food Bank Association, said she was not there at the time, but the managers were given the option to resign. She denies that they were threatened with legal action if they did not resign.

Laird said that Craig Uchida, temporary acting president of the association, and John DiMaggio, the new treasurer, pulled up in a car with a policeman in tow, then came into the Tri-Area Food Bank, and told Laird he needed to resign, or be taken to court.

When asked by a volunteer at the food bank why the police officer was there, the officer said, “I’m just here to keep the peace.”

Hennessy would neither confirm nor deny the incident happened.

“I’m lost, just totally lost,” Laird’s wife Sue said. She noted they had received a presidential award for 2022, because they had put in 2,004 hours for that year.

“We had done so good. That’s why we received it, so why this action? I don’t understand.” 

Hennessy stated the board of directors of the Jefferson County Food Bank Association is conducting an immediate and thorough review.

The review includes all operational and personnel policies and procedures. This decision comes in the wake of significant organizational milestones, including a new slate of board officers as of March 1 in addition to Hennessy’s hiring as the first executive director in November 2023.     

“Food banks are a pivotal presence in any community. It is our duty to ensure that everyone seeking our help receives it,” Hennessy said.

The board, she said, assures this evaluative process will not interfere with the current operations and distribution efforts of the food bank.

She noted that for over three decades the Jefferson Food Bank Association has been a vital, community-based, volunteer-led support system helping more than 3,000 households monthly through the efforts of volunteers.

Michael Zimmerman has been a Tri-Area food bank volunteer for about five years.

“So, my question is that we were told there would be more transparency and really being able to communicate,” he said. “I’m not seeing it at my level—I’m just not seeing it.”

According to Zimmerman, the locks on the doors have been changed and computers were taken.

Zimmerman noted that when volunteers met with Uchida and Hennessy regarding the dismissals, there seemed to be no answers except that the situation was on a “need-to-know basis” and were told, “you don’t need to know anything. It’s a personnel matter between the food bank and Lairds,” Zimmerman said.