After careers in politics and TV, Sarah Reyes works for the hungry.
Sarah Reyes' life is chaos right now, and she revels in it.
This is the high-octane time of year for Community Food Bank, a key hub that distributes food to programs feeding the hungry in the central San Joaquin Valley. And Reyes, a former state Assembly member from Fresno who now is the agency's chief executive officer, thrives in this atmosphere.
In the frenetic days before Thanksgiving, phones ring nonstop at the food bank in southwest Fresno. Staffers fire questions at Reyes as she's talking to someone else or is handling a phone call. Paperwork is filed and tracked down. Donations are picked up; food distributions are scheduled and conducted. Thanksgiving meals are sorted and packaged. The pace will continue through the Christmas season.
Reyes, 45, dons several personas to juggle this job with the skill of an emergency room doctor — Sherlock Holmes' command of deduction, Oprah Winfrey's ease of presence and sunny disposition, and Dr. Phil's straightforward approach to solving problems.
Oh, she's also part den mother and drill sergeant.
"It's the toughest job I've ever had to do," Reyes says.
In 19 months, she's shaped the nonprofit organization into a more cogent operation, instilling a professional and businesslike approach. Someone told her that once a charity becomes a business, it's no longer a charity. She disagrees: "If we run our organization like a business, we can be more charitable, and we can be around a lot longer."
Her past careers include television news reporter stints in Fresno (at KSEE, Channel 24) and Sacramento, and assistant to the chancellor for the State Center Community College District.
As 31st District Assembly member from 1998 until she term-limited out in 2004, she was active, accessible and articulate. Among other legislation, the Democrat pushed for bills that tightened charter school laws and made farm-labor vans safer.
Now, she's thrown her considerable energy into this job with its never-ending stream of demands and a $78,000 annual salary. Many wonder when Reyes again will seek political office — and which one.
Reyes herself says, "I never say never," but she makes it clear her focus right now is on the food bank. She's been touched by what she's seen firsthand — how the food bank directly affects the lives of people who need help the most.
"To see it so up close and personal, to see the fact that we have a huge problem here," she says. "What it does is make us want to do more. We've got do more. And we do. I've never seen a staff work harder than this staff."
Life takes a detourMany expected Reyes to pursue another elective office immediately after the Assembly, but instead, she came home.
Her father, Robert Reyes, suffered a stroke six years ago and died this summer, on Father's Day, at the age of 85.
"It was the worst day of my life," she says. "It was the worst thing that ever happened in my life."
Reyes was in Sacramento when the stroke hit. She calls it "the turning point in my political life." She knew she had to be with her dad and mother, Betsy Reyes.
When the opening came up at Community Food Bank in early 2005, her older sister, Janice Reyes, urged her to go for it. She knew Reyes always wants to help others, so this seemed a good fit. As Janice told her sister: "You have an opportunity to put your money where your mouth is."
Reyes is the first to admit she never worked in a warehouse or in food distribution, but she's always had a talent for managing and organizing.
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