This was a sad year for Gateway as two of our beloved Board members passed and left a void in the hearts of all that knew them.

George Williams, a long-standing member of the board and a caring gentleman who dressed up as Santa Claus each year for the agency’s Christmas celebration, presenting gifts to all our program participants and leading a packed house in a medley of Christmas carols, as only he could do.

Garnett Haynes (board president) also a long-standing member of the board passed away. Garnett was a warm and caring woman who would often stop by and spend time with our staff and program participants making each and everyone one feel as though they were uniquely special. Her smile will keep our heart lights burning for many years to come and her laughter can still be heard in the halls of the Gateway facility.

There is truly no way to honor these two remarkable individuals and what they meant to the Gateway program.

To keep their spirit alive in our community and near to the place they both loved so much, Gateway has planted two trees across from the Gateway facility by the Gazebo on Edgar Avenue, where the beauty of this simple but meaningful memorial can remind all that pass that way for many years to come that, George and Garnett are still and always will be with us. Their legacy of true humanitarianism shall live on in our hearts and serve as a reminder of the beauty that lies in the acts of kindness we commit as we walk through life.