This story could easily have had a very different ending. After all, what expectations are conjured up when you begin with a family of four fatherless children and a hard working mother in a textile mill? The Barnard family is this family. Losing a father to tuberculosis and seeing how hard his mother worked to support the family, a young man was given a gift and the plot thickened. A love offering was taken up at the Memorial United Methodist Church in Cramerton where the Barnards attended as members. $500 was collected to assist George Barnard in pursuing higher education at Duke University where he had earned a scholarship.
Fast forward to today and the Barnard Family has grown in many ways. They have increased their number and have been working to pass on the love and support they received so many years ago. George Barnard went on to become a respected psychiatrist, married and have children of his own. As a legacy, he has taught the lesson that gifts are meant to be passed along to future generations and that people are worth taking a chance on and given a chance.
As a vehicle to express this legacy, the Barnard Family sought counsel among civic leaders and the Gaston Community Foundation. Jennie Stultz was the Mayor of Gastonia and familiar with the Gaston Education Foundation, an endowment managed by the Gaston Community Foundation. Her idea was to structure a scholarship to be awarded to a deserving student. The Barnard Family strongly believes in giving someone facing a head wind or obstacle the support needed as a foot up to turn that person’s situation around, thus allowing them a tail wind into a brighter future.
The Scholarship is administered and advertised by the Gaston Community Foundation of Gaston County. This is viewed as a special family time and is said by David Barnard, George’s son to be “one of the best things our family does”. The Barnard Family encourages those who are able to find out as they have the joy and invigoration of passing on those gifts received.
