Meet Dot!

When she drove her blue van up the hollows of the Appalachian mountains, people would come out of their homes with smiling faces and open arms to welcome back their old friend. The picture of discipleship, her charm, sense of humor, generosity and faith created a welcoming environment for people not only to be themselves, but also to learn and grow through love.

Dot Gallagher served on the inaugural mission trip to Appalachia, and continued to serve on 22 more until her health prevented her from making the trip. However, she continued to serve with her leadership and wisdom at each meeting and fundraising event thereafter. On the trip, you could find Dot driving around to see old friends, visiting work sites to make new ones, and finding ways to help at each stop along the way.

Perhaps her most well-known service was from the kitchen, where she cooked three meals a day to feed the hungry workers – not only their stomachs, but their souls as well. One of Dot’s favorite places to be was sitting among the teens, listening to their stories and offering quiet testimonies from a life well-lived. In Dot’s kitchen, everyone was welcome at the table. 

Dot Gallagher changed the world around her profoundly, simply by seeing how people were doing. She understood that we belong to each other, and treated everyone she encountered as a brother or sister in Christ. Her death in 2019 did not quiet her impact, as many people continue to cite Dot’s discipleship as inspiration for their own.

A community, Georgia and Appalachia combined, was impacted so deeply, that “Dot Gallagher Way” now leads to the church in West Virginia where so much of her work was done. Each June when we travel back to our old friends, we know Dot is with us leading the way in her pickup truck back to the place we call home.