Charles joined the board of Little Light of Mine in April of 2018. He is the managing partner for Gallagher & Associates Law Firm, P.A. in St. Petersburg where his practice focuses on real estate litigation, business litigation, insurance law, banking litigation and consumer law. Charles is active in the community and serves on a number of local boards including the St. Petersburg Bar, the Rowdies Council, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Family Advisory Council and St. Alban’s Episcopal Church Vestry. He is a 2009 graduate of Leadership St. Pete and a 2018 membership class of Leadership Pinellas.
Charles’ connection to Little Light of Mine is particularly personal. Both his daughter, Caroline, and his niece, Julia, were diagnosed with cancer. Julia, 3, was photographed by Little Light of Mine at the family home and later passed away from neuroblastoma. Caroline battled leukemia for two and a half years and is currently in remission. Both girls were treated at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, sometimes on the same day. As a result, childhood cancer has had a permanent impact on Charles’ life.
“After learning of Julia’s photo shoot and later seeing the amazing pictures, I felt a measure of joy in the midst of great sadness. The images captured by Little Light of Mine are treasured by our family and remind us of Julia. They were able to capture her true light and love for her family, “ says Charles.
Charles is committed to ensuring that local families with children battling life threatening illness are afforded the opportunity to have professional photographs at no cost. “Words cannot adequately capture the tragedy of parents losing a child. Given the costs of treatment and travel most families would not be able to afford a professional photography session of their child, and certainly not in the hospital or their home. We have to help these families memorialize their children by providing these photographs,” says Charles.
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