Russ Roy, the president of PFLAG Gainesville since October of 2014, has decided to resign the presidency as well as membership on the PFLAG Board. I hope that each of you will join us in thanking Russ for his willingness to serve the PFLAG Gainesville membership during our first leadership transition. It's that willingness to serve when needed that has made this iteration of PFLAG Gainesville so successful. Thank you, Russ. Thank you for your passion, your service, and your earnestness. We'll do our best to take it from here.

Over the weekend, the board of PFLAG Gainesville held a meeting to appoint a new chapter president to ensure that we remain constant in our mission to support, educate about, and advocate for LGBTQ people and their loved ones in the Gainesville area and beyond. We decided unanimously to appoint our vice president Kate Haskell as our new PFLAG Gainesville president. As a result, we had to fill some of our other vacancies on the PFLAG executive committee. We're pleased to announce the following slate of officers for the remainder of this chapter year:

Kate Haskell, President
Cheryl Kaplan, Vice President
Debbie Carr, Treasurer
Allyson Haskell, Secretary

PFLAG Gainesville has been a successful chapter by any measure. The first Summer Summit changed Gainesville and the surrounding area for the better. We have helped our community in both direct and indirect ways. Most importantly, we have also lived our mission by helping LGBTQ people and their loved ones during times of crisis. We look forward to serving our chapter and the larger community.

As always, if you or someone you know is struggling to come to terms with an LGBTQ loved one in their life, PFLAG Gainesville is always and will always be here to help.