The Gateway Area Development District (GADD) hosted its highly anticipated fourth annual Spring Fling for the region's senior citizens at the Morehead Conference Center Friday, March 21. The event drew a crowd of over 200 attendees, including local elected officials, state legislators, resource fair vendors, and GADD staff. The day was filled with food, fun, and fellowship, with attendees enjoying a meal prepared by GADD's Regional Kitchen, games, and over 25 resource fair vendors. To wrap up the event, participants had the chance to win multiple door prizes, all donated by the vendors in attendance and GADD's senior centers.

 

"The fourth annual Spring Fling was a fantastic event with a great turnout," GADD Executive Director Joshua Farrow said. "I'm incredibly proud of our staff for their hard work in planning and executing such a memorable event. I'd also like to thank our local governments, community partners, and citizens for their ongoing support." During the event, it was announced that GADD provided over 151,500 meals region-wide in the calendar year 2024, a nearly 93,000 meal increase from the calendar year 2019. GADD continues collaborating with the Department for Aging and Independent Living (DAIL) and local governments to introduce innovative programs, enhance technology and equipment, and improve services for the senior population.GADD-operated senior centers are open Monday through Friday, with lunch served daily from 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM. For more information about GADD's senior center program, including operating hours and upcoming events, visit www.gwadd.org/senior-centers/ or contact GADD's Aging and Disability Resource Center at 855-882-5307.The Gateway Area Development District (GADD) has received a $100,000 grant from the Joanie Bernard Foundation to continue spaying and neutering community cats in five east-central Kentucky counties. This is the second straight year this grant, known as the Gateway Cat Spay/Neuter Project, has been awarded. The grant arose from a needs assessment of animal shelters in the northeast Kentucky region conducted by Team Shelter USA, LLC in 2023, with the goal of decreasing the number of free-roaming cats and the number of cats and kittens entering area shelters.In 2025, the grant will assist the Gateway region (Bath, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, and Rowan counties) with spay/neuter efforts for cats. The Gateway Cat Spay/Neuter Project contracts with local providers for spay and neuter services through local veterinarians and the local humane society and is managed collaboratively between Dr. Sara Pizano, founder of Team Shelter USA, LLC and GADD.In addition to the spay/neuter procedures, cats will be provided with vaccinations and are marked in a process known as "ear-tipping" or tattooing, which makes the cat easily identifiable as being fixed and no longer able to add to the cat population.In 2024, its inaugural year, the project saw over 900 cat spay/neuter procedures completed across the five-county Gateway region."Our northern Kentucky and Bluegrass models have been a great success," said Deborah Cribbs, who is with the Joanie Bernard Foundation and the founder and leader of Give Them Ten said. "Since 2016, we have provided more than $3 million and completed over 40,000 cat spay/neuter procedures in more than 21 Kentucky counties. Shelter intake has been dramatically reduced, and euthanasia for space is a thing of the past. We are happy to extend this program to the Gateway Area Development District." Dr. Sara Pizano, founder and consultant of Team Shelter USA, LLC commented, "We are so happy that the Gateway Area Development District and the service providers joined us for a second year. We look forward to an even bigger impact in 2025."GADD Executive Director Joshua Farrow expressed gratitude to those who helped make this project possible."For more than 55 years, Gateway Area Development District has helped address regional challenges that transcend our region's boundaries. We are deeply grateful to the Joanie Bernard Foundation for their ongoing support and trust in GADD to continue providing a vital service that assists the Gateway region and its people."Surgeries can only be scheduled by contacting the designated organization in your county of residence. Please see below for telephone contact information.Bath County Residents: Menifee County AnimalShelter 606-768-9368Menifee County Residents: Menifee CountyAnimal Shelter 606-768-9368Montgomery County Residents: Montgomery County Animal Shelter 859-498-8751Morgan County Residents: Menifee County Animal Shelter 606-768-9368Rowan County Residents: Tri-County AnimalShelter 606-784-4930For additional information about Give Them Ten and Team Shelter USA, LLC, please visit GiveThemTen.org or teamshelterusa.com.