Flooding forces Queen-Bee Community Pantry to close in Langley

For families from Clinton to Oak Harbor, Queen-Bee Community Pantry’s sudden shutdown means one less place to count on for groceries this week. The Langley pantry had become an islandwide safety net, and with its doors closed indefinitely, the people who relied on its food boxes and holiday drives are now being pushed to whatever backup help they can find across Whidbey Island.

The closure began when co-founder Tanya Hernandez found about 4 inches of water across the floor of the pantry’s new storefront in Suite 102 at 5826 Kramer Road in the Bayview area of Langley. The space had opened in March and had been operating for less than two months when an unattended hose upstairs burst and sent water into the building, damaging computers, business licenses, carpets, furniture, sweatshirt merchandise and a bench worth $700. A restoration company was testing for asbestos before rebuilding water-damaged walls and removing carpeting, but there is still no reopening date.

Hernandez and her partner, Lila Haynes, started Queen-Bee Pantry in 2024 from Hernandez-Garzon’s front porch, then moved it into a garage as donations and demand grew. The pantry later won 501(c)(3) status in the late spring of 2024, filling a gap left when Whidbey Island Angels closed that April. By the end of last year, the pantry said it had helped about 7,000 people, served between 80 and 150 people each week in 2024, and later provided food for about 100 to 120 people each month in 2025.

The numbers show why the interruption is so disruptive. Queen-Bee Pantry has said it serves all of Whidbey Island, with about 60% of patrons coming from Oak Harbor and Coupeville, while South Whidbey, especially Clinton, brings the greatest need. It also handed out 168 Thanksgiving baskets and helped 186 families through its toy drive last year. If the pantry stays offline, those households will have to lean harder on an island food system already under strain, as North Whidbey Help House and other food banks have reported rising costs and tighter supplies.

Hernandez has said the responsibility for the flood is still disputed, with the building owner and the upstairs business both caught in the uncertainty. In the meantime, the pantry is trying to salvage what it can, store food in rented units and raise money for repairs. Donations can still be made through the pantry’s website, and food can be delivered to Hernandez’s home in Greenbank, but for now the public pantry itself remains closed, and families who depended on it are left waiting for the next shipment and the next clear answer.