Alcidia Freitas Gomes
Alcidia Freitas Gomes is the Central Region Chair
In the early 1990s, when John D. Welty began his tenure as University President, Welty saw a need for development. Shortly after, Dan Bartell was hired as dean of the agriculture department, and together they focused on developing relationships with the community and engaging alumni and friends in the life of the university. This included reaching out to the Ag One Foundation, an organization created in 1979 to pursue support for students and programs, which in turn would bring quality agricultural students to Fresno State.
The tandem would turn to current FCFB Board member Alcidia Freitas Gomes of Fresno, and they have not looked back since.
“Kathi Woodward was on the Ag One board at the time and alerted me that a position for the Executive Director and College Development Director was available, and I pursued the position,” Gomes said. Gomes was hired in 1994 in large part due to her skill, dedication and leadership. The foundation immediately flourished, reaching its first million dollars in 1997. The foundation reached the five-million dollar mark in 2008.
“I love what I do,” Gomes said. “I am fortunate to play a role in helping the college move forward in educating future leaders within the agricultural sciences and technology community. It’s a great feeling to help students reach their higher education goals and help the college provide a top-notch educational environment while helping donors fulfill their philanthropic goals.”
One of the goals of the program is to have an adequate supply of money to provide annual scholarships to students. The foundation currently provides $250,000 every year to students and programs from endowments and the number will continue to rise as the foundation continues to expand financial resources.
But Gomes is not just working toward raising money for scholarships; she has been active in participating in the college’s comprehensive campaign, where she has been a director. The campaign is completing the third year of its silent phase, and the College of Agriculture has raised more money to date than any other college or school within the university.
Some substantial improvements have already been made most recently to the Farm Market and the Equine program, “It has been rewarding to work with faculty and staff across the college and university. Some of the major emphasis of the campaign has been in viticulture and enology, food processing technology and the water technology center.”
Farm Bureau involvement
Gomes has been a FCFB Board member for six years. She currently serves as the Central Region Chair. “I like the proactive role that FCFB has taken in areas most important to farmers and ranchers,” she said. “I like that I am part of an organization that tells our story to the community, and Farm Bureau does a great job of doing that.”
In addition to the FCFB Board, FCFB banquet committee and numerous Fresno State committees, she serves on the Common Threads Committee, which is a joint venture between Ag Leadership, the College of Agriculture and the Ag One Foundation. Each year, Common Threads recognizes valley women for their agricultural, philanthropic and community service.
From the small village of Lajedo to the rural community of Fresno
Gomes was born in the village of Lajedo on the small island of Flores, the western-most island of the Azores. Flores stands for flowers in Portuguese, and is home to about 4,000 residents. At the age of three, her parents came to Fresno where her father, Joe Freitas, worked at the then-Soares Dairy, while the family also raised hogs and dairy replacement heifers on the side.
Gomes grew up in west Fresno, and graduated from Central High School, raising dairy replacement heifers all throughout elementary school and high school. She graduated in 1987 with a Bachelor’s degree in ag business from Fresno State.
When Gomes was a senior, she interned at the California Holstein Association. At the completion of the internship, she served as the director of promotions and later as manager. Even though she went from the Holstein Association to the Ag One Foundation in 1994, she continued raising replacement heifers on 20 acres until 2000.
While Gomes settled in Fresno, her ties with Flores Island did not end with her immediate family. Her husband Gabriel is from the same village. Gabriel had originally traveled to Boston and California to visit family, and Alcidia showed him around the Valley.
Two years later, Gomes returned to Flores, where she ran into Gabriel once again, and a relationship was born. In 1997, Alcidia flew back to their village in Flores with her wedding dress in hand. In front of family and friends, the two were married in Lajedo.
The couple returned to the U.S. to make their first home together in Fresno. Gabriel is a driver for a small trucking company in Fresno. “He enjoys what he does,” Alcidia said. “He loves to travel and see California.”
The Gomes’ have a 19-year-old daughter, Solange, who attends the University of Oporto in Portugal.
Gomes remains very engaged with her Portuguese heritage through the Our Lady of Fatima Society of Fresno-Easton, where she currently is serving as vice president, followed by a two-year term as president.
Additionally, Gomes and her husband started a yearly reunion – “Amigos das Flores” - for people with roots from the island of Flores. It gives young and old an opportunity to connect present to past and talk about family ties. Last year, this event raised money to purchase and ship a mobility scooter for an elderly man on the island – he began using it this past spring. This year will be the fifth year of the get together.
Meet Your Board Members Profile: Ag Today, Jul 08
By: John Migliazzo