The Following is this Week’s I AM, YOU ARE, WE ARE Honoree by Ashton Greer and Nicole Van Hyfte
It is easy to go about life concerned only with you and yours, but many reach a point and realize that a life of service to others is what makes life worth living. That is what happened for Rose Gates. As an avid gardener and Master Gardener, she had plans to retire and tend to her flowers, but she says, “God had a plan for me, and it wasn’t planting flowers.”
Rose moved to Danville in 3rd grade, attended Trinity Lutheran School, and says she always had a lot of responsibility even at a very young age because her parents were divorced and she had to help a lot at both homes. She graduated from Danville schools, and went on to earn Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, studying nursing and community counseling. During her career, she was a nurse, psychology teacher at Lakeview College of Nursing, and she finished her career at the VA as the National Director for the Patient Advocacy Program. Today at 87 years old, she still advocates for people in need throughout Danville.
In 2008, Rose was serving as a parish nurse at Trinity Lutheran Church, and she and many others began to see that they needed to reach beyond the walls of their church building, and so “Food for the Children” was born. The program started as a lunch program for Cannon Elementary students, and transformed into weekend program because many children lose access to healthy food over the weekend when they are not at school. Rose says, “Continuous nutrition helps children concentrate and learn. The world moves so quickly. We have to help the kids have the energy to stay on top of things. This program is helping them move towards a bright future.”
Food for the Children started with serving less than 40 children in the basement of Trinity Lutheran Church and has grown to such a capacity that in 2015 the program had to relocate to “The Hub” building at Life Church on Bowman Avenue, which has much more space. The program is still going strong today, and every weekend at least 24 volunteers attend to pack food for children in need. This program serves all District 118 elementary and Jr. High schools and currently 324 students participate in the program through referrals from school social workers. Rose is the leader of this initiative, and she has the most beautiful heart, dedicated to caring for hungry children. She could not do any of this alone and wants to say, “Thank you to everyone who supports the program. Danville is the most caring community. The Board of Directors is incredible, and every volunteer that supports this program is focused on feeding children.”
A dear friend says, “Rose makes the community a better place because of her concern for children. She prays for them every week, and she is a fearless leader with a heart of gold.” We thank you, Rose, for your leadership, faith, and concern for others. You make the world a more beautiful place.
If you have someone you would like to share,
visit https://forms.gle/deCPiQ1cxn1pDLhZ9
or contact Ashton Greer, City of Danville agreer@cityofdanville.org or
Nicole Van Hyfte, Vermilion Advantage nvanhyfte@vermilionadvantage.com.
