For Sara Reges, life has always centered on care—care for her family, her community, and people navigating moments of uncertainty. A wife and mother of four, Reges often reflects on how marriage and motherhood sharpened her sense of responsibility and empathy. “Everything I do comes back to my family,” she said. “When you’re raising kids, you’re constantly thinking about stability, safety, and how to help someone through hard moments.”
That instinct first took professional form through her career as a nurse, where she learned to assess needs quickly and respond with compassion under pressure. Over time, those same values extended beyond healthcare, guiding her work as a business owner at Old Angler’s Inn and later as the founder of Big Red Bag. Though distinct in function, both endeavors are rooted in the same philosophy. “I don’t separate my work into categories,” Reges explained. “It’s all connected. It’s all about helping people and taking care of the community that’s taken care of us.”
Old Angler’s Inn is one of the clearest expressions of that connection. Founded in the 1860s as a stopping point for travelers along the Potomac River, the Inn has grown into a cornerstone of the local community. Reges became involved through her family, stepping into a role that carried both pride and responsibility. “This place isn’t just a restaurant,” she said. “It’s part of people’s lives. They come here to celebrate anniversaries, bring their kids, and mark milestones.”
Operating a historic, multi-generational business has meant balancing change with preservation. “The challenge is honoring the history while still allowing it to grow,” Reges noted. “You can’t freeze something in time, but you also can’t lose its soul.” For Reges, that soul lives in the Inn’s warmth and sense of belonging, qualities she and her family work deliberately to protect.
That understanding of responsibility deepened during one of the most difficult moments of Reges’s life, when her son was seriously injured in an accident. Suddenly immersed in emergency rooms and uncertainty, she experienced how quickly stability can disappear. “When your child is hurt, everything else disappears,” she said. “You’re just trying to get through the next decision.”
Although Reges was familiar with healthcare systems as a nurse, experiencing them as a parent revealed a critical gap. Families leaving hospitals often lack immediate access to basic necessities like clean clothes, toiletries, and comfort items essential for post-hospital care. That realization became the foundation for Big Red Bag, a nonprofit Reges created to meet families at the moment of need.
Big Red Bag provides pre-packed hospital discharge bags filled with essential personal items, distributed directly through hospitals and community partners. Drawing on her clinical experience, Reges designed the bags to be practical, dignified, and easy for care teams to deliver quickly. “People don’t need more steps or paperwork in those moments,” she explained. “They need help right away.”
Since its launch, Big Red Bag has focused on doing one thing well, responding to crises with speed and compassion. Feedback from hospitals and families has reinforced the model’s impact. “When someone tells you the bag arrived at exactly the right moment, that’s when you know it matters,” Reges said.
Looking ahead, Reges hopes to expand Big Red Bag’s reach while preserving the simplicity that defines it. Growth, she believes, should never come at the expense of connection. Across every chapter of her life, from nursing to hospitality to nonprofit leadership, one principle remains constant: meaningful impact begins by showing up, caring deeply, and responding when it matters most.