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By pushing beyond what is to what could be, this year's Avenidas Lifetimes of Achievement honorees have created long-term changes in their communities that are stretching beyond their tenures and into the next generations.

From launching a theater company with national reach, to advocating for legislation and programs for those facing end-of-life choices, to preserving tens of thousands of acres of Peninsula hills, baylands and coastside as open space, Gloria Hom, Robert Kelley, Ginny Lear, Ward and Mary Paine and Mike and Ellen Turbow have spent decades planting the roots of change through organizations and programs they helped create for the benefit of the community at large.

To honor them, the senior-serving nonprofit Avenidas and the Palo Alto Weekly will host a special garden party at a local home on Sunday, May 19, from 3 to 5 p.m. Tickets for this public event are $75, with proceeds benefiting Avenidas' programs for older adults throughout the area. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Avenidas at 650-289-5445 or online at avenidas.org.