One of the first things Melanie Sachs’ family wanted to know when they learned she was leaving Freeport Community Services was if they could still help out with the annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner at the Freeport Community Center.

Sachs’ family – husband Drew, daughter Deirdre and son Peter – always volunteer at the Thanksgiving Community Dinner, which not only provides a free bountiful meal at the community center, but also boxed meals to more than 100 families who can’t make it there.

Her answer: Sure they can.

Sachs announced last Thursday that she will leave her position as executive director of Freeport Community Services, a job she held for three years, as of Tuesday, Sept. 6. The day after that, she will assume her new duties as interim executive director of Sexual Assault Response of Portland, whose coverage extends into Freeport.

“I’ve been very blessed to get this position,” Sachs said. “It’s intense work. I can still impact the people of Freeport and Pownal. They’re an amazing organization. They have a 24-hour crisis line and very trained volunteers.”

Catherine Richards, president of the FCS board, said that a search committee has been formed to hire a new executive director.

“We are currently in the process of hiring an interim (executive director), who will most likely help with our transition through year end,” Richards said. “Ideally we would have someone on board by January 2017. As you may know, a thorough and thoughtful search usually takes a few months time.”

She said the job description would be posted on various sites as of Monday, Aug. 29.

Sachs said she is leaving Freeport Community Services in good shape. The umbrella social-services organization that serves Freeport and Pownal residents provides essential services such as food, heat, clothing, medical equipment and transportation; a food pantry; holiday help such as the free Thanksgiving Community Dinner; camp scholarships for kids; and use of the community center itself.

“Freeport Community Services is just really strong,” she said. “We’ve done foundation work, worked on a strategic plan and a needs assessment. FCS is the service agency for Freeport and Pownal. People start there, and I think that’s critical because it’s a one-stop shop for six critical services. We literally are there for every stage of life. It really is the heart of Freeport in a way that no other agency is.”

Sachs said she will miss the people who make Freeport Community Services tick.

“It’s the people – the volunteers in particular who volunteer day after day to give of themselves, to see the goodness in people every single day.”

Richards said in a press release that FCS is grateful for Sachs’ “many and significant accomplishments” during her tenure.

“While the board is sad to see Melanie go,” Richards said, “we are very grateful for her many and significant accomplishments at FCS during her three-year tenure. Melanie’s boundless energy, her organizational and administrative skills and her absolute passion for the mission of FCS have been hallmark traits of her time at FCS. She has strengthened nearly every aspect of the organization and set it on a course for a strong future.”

Sachs instituted a wide range of policies and procedures to increase the organization’s effectiveness, Richards said. She stabilized and strengthened its financial reporting and management, restructured and revitalized the agency’s community-based programs and initiated new approaches to manage and optimize its staff and volunteers, Richards said.

Sachs, a Freeport resident, is a 1991 graduate of Bates College with a degree in clinical science and earned her master’s in science and social administration from the Mandel School at Case Western University in Cleveland. She worked for a time with the national organization for Victims Assistance, and at Freeport Community Services has advocated for victims of abuse.

Melanie Sachs with Tom Bull, Freeport Community Services board member.