Dear Friends of FISH,

With 53 years of continual service as an all-volunteer organization, FISH remains dedicated to helping our Sonoma Valley neighbors while adapting to the changing needs of our community. 

We are pleased to share some highlights of our efforts in 2024 in this Annual Report.

In friendship,

Sandy
Sandy Piotter, Executive Director

FISH provided 600+ new backpacks at the Back to School Fair in August, organized by the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center.  Above, Maria Campbell, Anne Shapiro and Arlene Holt greeted students and their families at the FISH table.

Over this past year FISH has entered several partnerships with other nonprofits to address gaps in local services.  These pilot programs create opportunities to explore ways of addressing unmet needs.  We have prioritized partnering because by working together, we can increase our effectiveness. 

In partnership with the Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, FISH now offers financial assistance to low-income seniors with bills for critical dental work. When it comes to assistance with dental issues, our senior population has access to the fewest resources, and the partnership helps address this gap.

FISH now participates in the coordination of services to those experiencing homelessness, which has clarified our role in  providing key services that support independence and permanent housing. Along with Home First, HAS, SOS and other entities, we meet twice a month to monitor progress in reducing homelessness in Sonoma Valley.

Many local seniors need assistance to stabilize their living situation by addressing economic insecurity. FISH has been working to Petaluma Peoples’ Service Center to connect these seniors with case managers.  Although this partnership is in its early stages, the need is so great that it is essential that FISH can refer these seniors to access additional resources.

Finally, 2024 was the first full year of our community partnership with Becoming Independent, with B.I. volunteers coming to our food pantry weekly to pack bags of fresh produce for distribution. We are excited to have these great team members helping to meet the needs for food assistance in the Valley.

With the help of our B.I. volunteers, we provide over 300 produce bags each month to those in need of food assistance.

Our 2024 statistics reveal growing numbers of local residents served, highlighting the critical need for the services we provide to the community.

While some services, like rent assistance, are most commonly accessed directly via our FISH website, our dedicated Dispatchers play a vital role in our mission, handling thousands of phone inquiries annually. In late fall, FISH successfully revamped our answering service to feature an initial greeting and guidance in Spanish. Our bilingual dispatchers then ensure all Spanish-speaking callers receive prompt assistance. We are making significant strides toward our goal of being equally responsive to every community member.

A gathering of some of our Dispatch volunteers.

FOOD ASSISTANCE

1,807 Sonoma Valley households were served at our food pantry in 2024, including 3,977 adults and 1,745 children. This reflects the critical and growing need for food assistance. We continue to innovate at our pantry, finding ways to provide more fresh food items and experimenting with ways to increase both choice and access.

FISH volunteers also provided 525 deliveries of groceries to homebound residents in 2024.

Donna Bachmann assisting one of our Food Room visitors. 2024 saw an increase of almost 20% in the number of families served at the Food Room.

RENT ASSISTANCE

In 2024, FISH was able to provide 290 households in Sonoma Valley with emergency rent assistance of up to 50% of a month’s rent or deposit.  The 2024 housing trends include higher rents, higher cost of living, and increased threats of evictions for those we serve.

UTILITIES ASSISTANCE

287 households in Sonoma Valley received help with their utility bills (primarily PG&E, but also water, sewer, cell phone and internet services). Our volunteers also direct those in need to programs that provide ongoing discounts for low-income residents.

CLOTHING AND HOUSEWARES

It was a busy year at the FISH Clothing Room, with Valley residents making more than 3,000 visits to select clothing and households goods at no charge. Managing donations is a huge job, as we want to ensure that our visitors find items in good condition. Our volunteers sorted through over six tons of donated items, separating out and organizing the usable items for the Clothing Room.

In addition, 18 new baby layettes were distributed to welcome the Valley's newest residents, including beautiful handmade items.

Hoodies made for FISH as a Senior Project by a Sonoma Valley High School senior.

TRANSPORTATION

1,086 rides were provided to medical appointments in 2024, averaging more than four round-trip rides every weekday. The large majority of these rides (833) were to out-of-town appointments. The number of rides requested has grown steadily, and we are always on the lookout for new volunteers to drive and to coordinate rides requests with our drivers. 

In addition, 42 residents received help with gasoline for out-of-town medical appointments.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT LOANS

One of our fastest growing programs helps local residents borrow durable medical equipment (such as walkers, rollators, and shower chairs) that has been donated by their neighbors. In 2024, this program provided 349 Sonoma Valley residents with loans of one or more items. 

Scenes from our 2024 Volunteer Appreciation BBQ.

2024 was a banner year for FISH, with over 30 new volunteers enriching our organization with energy, skill, and enthusiasm. Their contributions have bolstered our mission, ensuring stability and enabling growth of our services to meet needs. FISH now has 165 dedicated and compassionate volunteers! 

Please join us in welcoming these newest volunteers, the FISH "Class of 2024":

Kathy Ah San - Bookkeeping and Packing Home Deliveries

Mary Evelyn Arnold - Food Room

Marcia Beals - Driver

Nancy Bourne - Clothing Room

Chuck Custer - Food Room

Evelyn Dorsett - Food Room

Ken Fried - Driver

Elizabeth Griego - Driver

Tom Haeuser - Driver

Jeanne Haugh - Packer

Joanna Kemper - Food Room

Robin Layton - Dispatch

Kari Lopez - Dispatch and Driver

Doug Macpherson - Driver

Rita McBride - Driver

Susan Morgan  - Driver

Anne Neely - Rent Assistance

Randy Neely  - Food Room

Jeffry Norby - Food Room

Lynn Ochoa - Utilities

Andrea O’Rourke - Food Room

Irene Pelmear - Food Room

Susan Peloquin - Driver

Linda Piller - Medical Equipment

Renee Reynolds - Food Room

Adrian Roman - Clothing Room

Charlotte Ruffner - Board of Directors

Elizabeth Saunders - Driver

Mary Shea - Driver

Bob Smoke  - Driver

Deric Torres - Driver

Michael Turzanski - Driver

We are thankful for all our volunteers who strengthen our community by service with kindness. Currently we are particularly on the lookout for more bilingual dispatchers, as well as more drivers, clothing rooms helpers for Friday and Saturday, and food room substitutes for sorting and packing.

Know someone who might be a good fit? Details are on our Volunteer page.

Mother-Daughter Bell-Ringing Teams.

In addition to these year-round volunteers, Bell Ringing is a perfect example of how our generous community steps up seasonally for  FISH. It took 380 volunteers, coordinated by Arlene Holt, to implement our annual fundraising event by ringing bells at Safeway, Sonoma Market, Lucky’s, and Glen Ellen Market.  Volunteers came from throughout the Valley, including from Sonoma Rotary, Glen Ellen–Kenwood Rotary, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Branch Collaborative, Newcomers, 1st Congregational Church, Woman’s Club, Soroptimist, Shir Shalom, and other friends of FISH.

 Almost every volunteer hears a heartwarming story about how FISH helped their family, gets a warm thank you from a donor for FISH services, or meets a child contributing their allowance to help others. 

Bell Ringing donations help fund the Holiday Food Basket Program that provides 25 pounds of fresh produce, cheese and a gift card to over 500 families. Dee Weaver, Mary Herrick, Hunt Sharp, and Patti Silva began planning in July for the event and 60+ other volunteers join to fill and distribute boxes.

In 2024, we took steps to prioritize continuity of services – so if a volunteer goes on vacation, has a knee replacement or a new grandchild that needs some TLC, we have enough leadership to ensure that all service continue at a high level.  To that end, each program area has been encouraged to identify volunteers who can assume leadership roles and fill in the absence of the coordinator.  We share with gratitude the following examples:

~Anne Neely has assumed more responsibility for administering our Rent Assistance program, which allows Sherry Michael to expand her focus to both the new dental program and seniors in need.

~Anne Shapiro has added Medical Equipment team members, with Judie Osborn Shaw and Linda Piller each taking one day a week to distribute equipment and receive donations. The community relies on FISH for medical equipment loans, and this expanded team is needed to meet that demand.

~Barbara Roberts oversees the daily tasks of the Food Room on Monday and Tuesday while Lauren Scott has responsibility for the remainder of the week. This also allowed Lauren to organize a survey of 100 food callers in November, and to respond to all the unique requests and needs that we see in our food programs.

~Maria Campbell became the Volunteer Coordinator and works with Victoria Bonnington and Suzanne Larson who are the Volunteer Facilitators who contact potential volunteers and conduct the monthly orientations to FISH.  To help meet the critical need for Spanish speaking dispatchers, special orientation sessions were held.

Excludes investment income.

Thankfully, as the number of Sonoma Valley neighbors that we are serving continues to grow, we have seen some growth in our revenues as well. In 2024, FISH revenue totaled $611,209, up about 9% over 2023.  A significant factor in this increase was bequests, which accounted for $122,295 and reflect the passing of two longtime supporters who provided generously for FISH in their wills.

Individual donations, however, continue to be the largest driver of FISH revenue. In 2024, 813 generous individuals donated to FISH. The average individual donation was $525, with 56% in the $1 - $99 range.  It is this breadth of community support that continues to make our services possible.

The Neighborhood Food Project fills large green bags with items from our "wish list" and delivers them to the FISH pantry.

Harder to quantify, but critically important, are the many non-monetary donations to FISH of items such as food, clothing, and medical equipment. Almost daily, we receive donated items from local residents. In addition, FISH is consistently supported by more than 50 community partners that provide food for our pantry and other goods and services, as well as helping hands for various seasonal programs.  From scouts to schools, from postal workers to local farmers, we are grateful to be part of a such generous community.

In 2024, our expenditures totaled $469,101. Because FISH is an all-volunteer organization, we can make a big impact with the dollars we receive, with 95% of expenses going to client services.  

It was a privilege in 2024 to be able to celebrate several individuals whose decades of service to FISH are both an inspiration and a source of gratitude.

This lovely painting was painted and donated to FISH by Kathy Fowler Powers in honor of her mother, longtime volunteer JoAnn Fowler, and in memory of Roland and Hazel Todd. It is displayed in the Food Room to honor all those who made FISH Central possible. Pictured at right is Joann Fowler and members of the initial Building Committee.

In April, we honored longtime volunteer Carol Hanna as the FISH honoree for the 2024 Volunteer STAR Awards hosted by the Sonoma Valley Catalyst Fund.

Carol joined FISH in 1986 and volunteered for 38 years. She began by packing and delivering food and later transitioned to transportation where she served as a Ride Finder for two decades. Carol provided critical computer support by keeping accurate records on our drivers and those requesting rides. 

We will miss Carol, who passed away at the age of 90 in September. 

To honor their amazing combined 84 years of volunteering with us, FISH established The Louise and Sherm Service Scouting Award. The Bielfelts have been the backbone of FISH for more than four decades and have embodied the spirit of "Friends in Sonoma Helping". 

With the community's continued support, FISH is committed to our mission of lending a hand to our neighbors in need through essential safety net services. In delivering these services, we are guided by our core values of Trust, Inclusion, Responsiveness, and the Strength of Volunteers. As we move into the new year, we embrace the community spirit that unites us as Friends In Sonoma Helping.