Robert Gates offers food for thought at Helping Hands benefit

He has led the C.I.A., the U.S. Defense Department and two major universities, but 77-year-old Robert Gates, now of Big Lake, received his best management training as a Boy Scout.

“When I was 14,” Gates recalled at a special leadership seminar benefitting Helping Hands Food Bank at the Lincoln Theatre in Mount Vernon Saturday night, “I had to get boys 11, 12 and 13-years-old to follow directions when they didn’t necessarily want to.”

Gates found a way. And it led to a career in which he has made crucial decisions on the world stage.

Now, in retirement, his focus is local.

Gates told his audience, which included La Conner alums Kim Rubenstein, Virginia Good-Vlahovich and Patsy Good, that serving one’s neighbors and working to strengthen communities is the best – and perhaps only – way to curb political polarization in America.

Gates and his wife, Becky, lead by example. They are the prime benefactors of Helping Hands Food Bank, which under the leadership of Executive Director Rebeca Skrinde and a board of directors that includes Good-Vlahovich, increased its food distribution and solution-based social services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Corporate sponsors and the public showed their appreciation by raising just over $100,000 in connection with the Leaders Inspiring Leaders event keynoted by Dr. Gates and its related auction and raffle fundraisers.

Gates was more than happy to take part.

“My wife Becky and I have supported the Skagit County food banks for more than a decade,” said Gates. “We choose to support Helping Hands because of the dramatic impact it has as it feeds our community with respect and dignity. The leadership and staff are consistent and devoted stewards of our community. They reliably feed Skagit’s hungry and provide services to anyone needing their help.”

On the topic of leadership, Gates said he embraces a collaborative approach in which all stakeholders can provide input before final decisions are made. He said having a humble nature and possessing listening skills are essential for leaders to master.

That echoed remarks Gates made last year when he taped an interview segment with David Axelrod, former advisor to President Barack Obama, at the Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner.

The main obstacle to modern leadership, Gates said Saturday, is social media, because it allows one to viciously attack those with opposite views, often anonymously.

“People on social media say things to other people that they wouldn’t dare say face-to-face,” Gates said. “If you can have a reasonable, respectful conversation with someone, there’s a much better chance that you can resolve an issue.”

Leaders should also be willing to stretch beyond their comfort zones and inspire change when necessary, said Gates. He made that point when applying for the presidency of Texas A&M University, now the nation’s largest collegiate campus in terms of student enrollment.

“I told the head of the selection committee at Texas A&M that if they wanted someone to protect the status quo, then I wasn’t their man,” Gates said.

He was hired and no one had regrets. When Gates left the school to become Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush – a role he retained under Obama – his farewell was attended by an estimated 10,000 students.

“He was a great leader for the university and the nation,” Texas A&M alumnus and author Chad Lehrmann told the Weekly News.

In closing, Gates praised the leadership of Helping Hands Food Bank, which in the span of 35 years has grown from a small food pantry in a church basement to a countywide solution center devoted to stamping out poverty and food insecurity.

He noted that Helping Hands expanded its operations during the pandemic with the help of the Washington National Guard and public and volunteer resources.

“They served a total of 8.4 million meals to over 700,000 of our our neighbors, four times that of 2019,” Gates said. “Moreover, they went mobile, serving communities across the county from Marblemount to Anacortes. Their Cutting Hunger on the Weekends (CHOW) program, alone, delivered meals to 2,200 children across the county every week.”

The Gates’ share a passion for Skagit area community, he said.

“Leaders Inspiring Leaders,” he said, “is meant to connect neighbors across the Skagit Valley as we join together to celebrate and support the leadership of Helping Hands and its service to others.”