Nestled within a grove of trees, more than 300 lanterns twinkled around the perimeter of the Keith House on a recent evening in the Clearfork neighborhood.
The pulsing glow of the tealight candle inside each white paper bag illuminated a first name and last initial inscribed into the front of the lantern.
Each name represented a patient served by Project 4031, a faith-based nonprofit aiming to provide peace and comfort to terminally ill children, adults and families facing end-of-life challenges by easing financial burdens and fulfilling last wishes.
Fort Worth native Theresa Reyes, 47, strolled around the Keith House near the river along the Trinity Trails with her family. Sitting on a windowsill was a lantern for her son, Christopher Green-Reyes.
Reyes’ son died in November after being under hospice care for 11 months. He was 31. Green-Reyes, who lived with cerebral palsy and faced numerous health challenges, benefited from Project 4031’s regular visits to deliver homemade gifts, positive messages and financial support allowing the family to take Green-Reyes to a WWE event for his birthday.
Being at Thursday’s event felt “bittersweet,” Reyes said. She sat on a committee to create the annual fundraiser, called Lanterns on the Trail. As a mother who received support from the nonprofit, she hopes her son’s lantern joins the others to bring awareness to Project 4031 and how it helps families.
“At first, you’re scared because you’re like,’OK, we know what’s gonna happen, but we don’t want to think about it.’ But there’s a program that comes out and gives you hope and a little bit of peace knowing that there’s somebody to comfort you,” Reyes said.
From left, Gustavo, Rico, Ava Reyes, Shirley Flores, Theresa Reyes and Gerardo Reyes attend the Lanterns on the Trail fundraising event for Project 4031. The nonprofit helped the Reyes family when their son Christopher Green-Reyes was under hospice care before his death in Nov. 7, 2025. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
Ava Reyes, Theresa Reyes and Shirley Flores hold a flyer for Project 4031 with a photo of their loved one, Christopher Green-Reyes, who died on Nov. 7, 2025. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
The third annual fundraiser raises money so that the nonprofit can help families pay for immediate needs, such as utility payments, rent, mortgages and groceries. The funds also go toward fulfilling final dreams, such as celebrating a daughter’s quinceañera or a senior’s request for a more comfortable lift recliner.
The lanterns are a way to show how Project 4031 tries to uplift families in the darkest time of their lives and honor the patients they have been able to serve, said Jazmine Velasquez, development manager for the nonprofit.
“We still love them, and we’re so grateful that we got to serve them,” Velasquez said. “We’re really taking the initiative and the approach to try to bring the light because that’s what we focus on.”
White paper bag lanterns illuminated by tealight candles line the perimeter of the Keith House in Fort Worth for Project 4031’s annual Lanterns on the Trail event on March 12, 2026. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
The nonprofit was founded by husband-and-wife duo Kristina and Josh Robertson in 2011.
The name derives from the Bible verse Isaiah 40:31, which references how those who “hope in the Lord” will renew their strength and overcome difficulties and challenges.
Lanterns on the Trail is a time to bring the community together, honor deceased loved ones and have a conversation around end-of-life care, Kristina Robertson said. Talking about death can be scary, but that is “one of the commonalities we’re going to have,” she added.
“We’re all going to face this one way or the other,” she said. “And just being able to kind of touch on it here or there, whatever your comfortability level is, I think, is huge.” Those little conversations may lead to bigger ones with loved ones, she added, which can make a world of difference.
Project 4031 displays testimonials of families the nonprofit has helped during the organization’s March 12 event at the Keith House. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
Today, a collection of items sit in Reyes’ home from her time with Project 4031: little bags wrapped in bows used for gifts, positive messages of support, a written prayer and vases that at one time sat on Christopher’s dresser, filled with fresh flowers.
They serve as tributes, ways the community honored Reyes’ son. They also show that in his final months he wasn’t alone, she said.
“It makes us remember those good times, and he was happy about receiving those gifts,” Reyes said. “Those kinds of people kind of become your family.”
A paper lantern reading Christopher G. sits on a windowsill at the Keith House on March 12, 2026. (Marissa Greene | Fort Worth Report)
Marissa Greene is a Report for America corps member, covering faith for the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at marissa.greene@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org/2026/03/16/lanterns-shine-light-on-spiritual-financial-help-fort-worth-nonprofit-gives-to-terminally-ill/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=444231&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://fortworthreport.org/2026/03/16/lanterns-shine-light-on-spiritual-financial-help-fort-worth-nonprofit-gives-to-terminally-ill/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/fortworthreport.org/p.js”></script>