All Volunteer Agency Seeks New ED
By Bill Hoban
Big changes are on the way at FISH, Friends In Sonoma Helping, not the least of which is finding a new executive director.
Sandy Piotter, who has been the executive director at the all-volunteer nonprofit for the past 16 years, has retired. She started as a dispatcher with the then-new organization in 1973, because it gave her the opportunity to work at home while raising her family. “Back then, the dispatchers fielded and solved calls,” she said.
“Adele (Harrison, one of FISH’s founders and the coordinator for 27 years) found something I could do from home,” Piotter said. “She was an incredible individual.”
FISH was founded in 1971 by eight Sonoma Valley churches because of a need for food and medical rides by residents. The first food pantry was at Trinity Episcopal Church, the clothing closet was at Faith Lutheran. And all FISH’s volunteers were members of the various churches.
But by 1980, it had transitioned into a community-based organization instead of faith based. “We had an increase in volunteers because we had an increase in need,” she said. Back then, the phone bank was a 24/7 operation. No challenge was too great.”
Piotter became executive director in 2011 after a career in school administration with the Tamalpais Union High School District in Marin County, that included assistant principal and later principal at the high school, and serving as the school district’s director of curriculum.
By that time, FISH had added additional services, including medical equipment, a clothing room, rental assistance, utility assistance and holiday food baskets. And in 2002, it bought the old AT&T building it currently occupies on Sonoma Highway in the Springs.
But it hasn’t been easy. Piotter says the two biggest transitions FISH faced were the fires in 2017 and the COVID pandemic starting in 2020. During the fires, the organization had to keep moving food and clothing to stay ahead of the fires. And during the COVID crisis, FISH closed its food bank and distributed more than $1 million in rent and utility assistance in the first 18 months of the pandemic.
By 2025, FISH had grown to 175 volunteers, and almost 2,000 households, including almost 4,500 adults and close to 2,000 children, received food support from its pantry. Its other free services had also grown. That year, the clothing room had more than 3,500 visits.
But FISH was running out of room. In early 2026, it bought the building next door. It’s still undergoing renovation but will eventually house the clothing room, a conference room and various offices. Piotter said FISH had been trying to buy the building for years before the owner decided to sell.
In August, after serving as the organization’s unpaid executive director for 16 years, and putting in 30-to-40-hour weeks (sometimes more), Piotter decided to retire. She’s not leaving FISH though. She’ll still be a volunteer working on special projects and writing a history of FISH.
Joanne Brown, president of FISH’s board said Piotter, “can’t be replaced.”
Brown said the board would be searching for a new executive director throughout the North Bay, using its network of connections, newspapers and social media. “We’re looking for another volunteer … that could be tough,” she admitted “But this is the FISH tradition.”
The board doesn’t have a timeline on finding Piotter’s replacement, but Brown said she hopes they can have somebody in place by the first of the year.
In addition to looking for Piotter’s replacement, the FISH board will be making plans for the additional building – including big changes in the food room, which would let people choose which food items they want, akin to a grocery store. “This is exciting,” Brown said. “It’s being used in other food rooms.” While it won’t happen in the next few weeks, it will happen in the near future.
“FISH is moving ahead,” Brown said. “We’re going to keep on taking care of people.”
Bill Hoban is the former managing editor of the Sonoma Index-Tribune and a longtime FISH volunteer.
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