Helen McGovern took over the reins at EFN on April 1, 2009. Helen was the Managing Director for the Colliers International Tacoma office and a member of the Lakewood City Council for the last eight years. She brings extensive experience as a proven leader in the community, having served on the boards of several organizations including Clover Park Rotary (past president), Clover Park Technical College, Safe Streets, and American Leadership Forum. She succeeds David Ottey, long time Executive Director of EFN, who retired the end of December. 

Helen assumes leadership at EFN at a critical time, when the need for emergency food is increasing at dramatic levels. Use of food banks grew 22% from 2007 to 2008. Started in 1982, EFN’s mission is to provide a reliable food supply so that no person in Pierce County goes hungry. EFN meets that mission by operating a food distribution center, a farm, and an orchard, distributing over 10 million pounds of food to food banks and hot meal sites throughout Pierce County.