For more than three decades, people have walked through the doors of Tacoma Adventist Community Services looking for food. What many find is something harder to measure: a place where they are welcomed, cared for and helped when they need it most.
Behind much of that ministry was Leslie Badgley, who died July 29, 2026, at age 74. Her impact cannot be contained in the 800–1,000 people the center now serves each month or the blessing bags distributed to as many as 50 people a day. Her legacy lives in the community that learned it could depend on her.
Badgley understood food insecurity personally. After her husband was injured and unable to work, she relied on food banks but often found little she could eat because of her health needs.
“What does somebody do?” Leslye Caley-Thorne, a longtime friend and fellow volunteer, remembered Badgley asking.
For Badgley, that question became a calling. Alongside several women from church, she helped establish a small Tacoma food bank where people with health conditions could receive food they could actually use. The ministry eventually became TACS.
During the pandemic, its reach grew even further. “She opened up the doors to everyone,” said Nelson Miles, Hope House Tacoma and TACS board chair. “She didn’t turn anybody away.”
Badgley served as TACS executive director without a salary. When local organizations approached with additional needs, Miles remembered that Badgley found a way to feed people.
Her generosity became personal, too. When Badgley had only $20 and learned that a woman needed money for her sick daughter’s prescription, she gave her the $20. Later, Badgley sold her jewelry, including her wedding rings, and donated the proceeds to the center.
“Badgley was the most generous person I’ve ever met,” said Caley-Thorne.
Richard Ferguson, Badgley's former dentist and a former TACS board member, remembers her as a woman who “had a big heart” and “loved everyone.”
Miles wants people to remember something else. “There’s a side nobody’s talked about yet,” Miles said. “That woman could worship. She loved God.”
As Badgley's health declined, that devotion remained. Scott Tyman, Tacoma Central Adventist Church senior pastor, remembered her regularly joining the center’s 8:30 p.m. prayer line. Even after entering the hospital, she continued praying with them and ordering food for the center until her final weeks.
Today, TACS's doors remain open. Volunteers still sort food, blessing bags still reach people in need and hundreds of households continue receiving help.
Miles prays that Badgley's story might inspire others to serve. Though she now rests, he said, "She's still sowing seed.” In Tacoma, those seeds are still feeding people.
Leslie Badgley dedicated more than three decades to serving the Tacoma community through TACS.
Volunteers distribute food through TACS, continuing a ministry of care for the Tacoma community.
