Joel Perez has been a fixture in the Mendota community for his entire life.

He is a union representative for his co-workers at Ridley Feeds, an athletics coach at Mendota High School and in the local little league community.

Perez has devoted himself to his family, co-workers and community in an exemplary fashion, although most may be familiar with his work as a coach.

“I’ve coached for years, and I’ve coached almost everything,” he said. “You name one person or another, I’ve coached their kid in football, softball, basketball or something.”

Perez has been at Mendota High School coaching multiple sports for over two decades (though he doesn’t like to think it’s been that long), and has also helped out in Little League.

He is currently the head softball coach, a position he has held for 13 years.

“I’m just here to try and help the girls get better,” he said. “I like how hard they play and how they work.”

Perez’s fellow coaches and faculty at MHS aren’t as modest in their descriptions of his impact on the school and the community.

“What truly sets Coach Perez apart is his consistent investment in our student-athletes. He has never turned down an opportunity to help kids grow and flourish, both on and off the playing field,” teacher and MHS coach Aaron Sester said. “I know I can always rely on Coach Perez to offer guidance and mentoring – not only to the kids in our community but often to myself and other coaches as well.”

Sester has seen the impact Perez has had on the community as both an athlete and a colleague.

“He has helped shape a stronger school and a more connected community; his impact is, and will be, felt for generations,” he said.

Gary Barerra, the head of the physical education department at MHS, has known Perez his whole life, dating back to their Little League days.

“He has been involved in the lives of so many student athletes. He has positively impacted their lives from the youth programs all the way until they graduated high school,” he said. “Joel has been a positive role model for kids as they grow up; they respect him and look at him as a positive in their lives.”

Perez’s devotion isn’t limited to athletics. He has an active role in helping his co-workers outside the walls of MHS.

After working at Fasco Mills, Perez moved to Ridley Feeds Ingredients, where, for the past three years, he has been a union steward representing more than 100 employees.

“When the opportunity came up, I thought that I’d give it a try and see how it would work out,” he said. “You can’t make everybody happy, but you try to do your best.”

Perez said that as a union leader, he tries to get people to buy into everybody’s success.

“I’m more of a what we can do for everyone instead of what we can do for an individual because it’s a union, and we’re all together,” he said. “Some people just don’t look at it that way.”

After taking on multiple roles at MHS and at his workplace, Perez tried his hand at another form of community involvement in 2025: local government.

Perez ran for the Mendota City Council, emphasizing giving a voice to the Hispanic community in Mendota and bringing people together.

“There are all kinds of people who have a voice, and nobody has really put in the time to want to try to bring the Mexican community in more,” he said. “I just figured maybe people would get out and do more if somebody like me was involved. They might want to get out and be part of building Mendota.”

Although he did not win, Perez said he wants to give it another run next time around to see if he can make another difference in the community he calls home.