POULSBO — More than 20 years after founding the Helping Hand House in Puyallup, Margie Addington has taken the reins at North Kitsap Fishline as its new executive director.

Addington’s first day on the job was July 5 and she is the first full-time staff member hired by Fishline’s board led by board president Mary Barker.

“I waited a good 10 months for this job, and I love the community and I love being near the water,” Addington said.

Addington is originally from Puyallup where, in 1984, she founded the Helping Hands House, an organization dedicated to helping the homeless in Pierce County.

At the Helping Hands House, Addington said she learned the whole gamut of issues surrounding homelessness, but didn’t delve much into food banks.

“I don’t know a whole lot about food banks, but I feel confident I can get the job done,” she said.

As part of her training, Addington said she will spend two weeks working at other local food banks to get a feel for how food distribution is handled by similar agencies.

Already in her first three days on the job, Addington shared some of her observations about Fishline’s board as well as its volunteers.

“The volunteers here are so dedicated and so compassionate and so loyal,” she said. “The board of directors is very active and many of them are in here volunteering.”

In the wake of former Fishline executive director Sharon Kirkpatrick’s resignation May 17 due of conflicts with the board, Addington said before she accepted the position, she wanted to ensure it was a good fit for all those involved.

“We’re moving on, and I’ll be working on our short-term and long-term goals along with the board,” she said.

The ultimate goal is to provide the highest level of service possible to all of its clients, she said.

As for her personal approach to Fishline’s mission and life in general, Addington said there are three people she strives to model her life after.

“They are Ghandi, Mother Teresa and Bill Gates,” she said, noting that all three gave to those in need and used their lives to make positive impacts on the world around them.

Also, Addington said through the course of the intensive selection process, she understands what the board expects of her and what her responsibilities are as the group’s executive director.

“I wanted it to be a fit for me, but also a fit for them,” she said.

With the administrative aspects a non-issue, Addington said her focus is squarely on hunger.

“It’s shameful that in the U.S. we have hungry children, and that’s unacceptable,” Addington said.

Board President Mary Barker said Fishline’s board had a number of qualified candidates interested in the position.

“The thing that really stood out was that she had a great deal of management experience in helping clients,” Barker said of Addington and her work at the Helping Hands House.

Once Addington returns to Fishline on July 24 after her training concludes, Barker said the next step will be finding ways to introduce Addington to the rest of the community.