{"id":92110,"date":"2025-12-18T00:14:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T00:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92110\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T00:14:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T00:14:07","slug":"north-texas-man-collects-800-christmas-messages-from-kids-to-distribute-to-seniors-across-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/92110\/","title":{"rendered":"North Texas man collects 800 Christmas messages from kids to distribute to seniors across Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A North Texas<\/a> man is spreading holiday cheer and wisdom across generations. What started as a childhood friendship has grown into a project connecting hundreds of children with seniors who might otherwise spend the holidays alone.<\/p>\n

Trae Jacobs began the initiative by printing hundreds of coloring sheets with room for personal messages and distributing them to more than a dozen schools across Dallas<\/a>. More than 800 cards, created by elementary, middle, and high school students, are now intended for seniors living in care facilities across North Texas.<\/p>\n

“We’re writing Christmas messages to our grandmas and grandpas that we don’t know,” Jacobs said.<\/p>\n

A personal mission rooted in childhood<\/p>\n

For Jacobs, the project is deeply personal.<\/p>\n

“When I was in middle school, I lived with my grandma and my great-grandma. Nana had dementia, and we spent a lot of time at the senior center. That’s where I met my best friend. His name was Bill Brown. He was 82 years old,” he said.<\/p>\n

Jacobs said that the unlikely friendship had a lasting impact.<\/p>\n

“I know companionship extended his life…one hundred percent,” he said.<\/p>\n

Delivering joy and dignity<\/p>\n

Today, Jacobs owns ComforCare, a senior care company focused on connection, dignity, and compassion. This holiday season, he is bringing those connections full circle by hand-delivering the notes to seniors.<\/p>\n

“It’s just knowing that…you matter. I am thinking of you. Not everybody has somebody,” said Eileen Flanagan, executive director of The Landon at Lake Highlands, where some of the cards were distributed.<\/p>\n

Messages stir memories for seniors<\/p>\n

For residents like former teacher Mimi Bunton, the messages bring both joy and nostalgia.<\/p>\n

“It’s a mixed blessing because it’s interesting how joy can sometimes make you a little sad. You long for those days when joy was just a part of your life,” she said.<\/p>\n

Creating a two-way conversation<\/p>\n

In January, Jacobs plans to deliver notes from the seniors back to the students, creating a conversation across generations.<\/p>\n

“That’s what it’s all about,” Flanagan said. Jacobs added, “If they can reach out and find their own Bill Brown, I’d be very happy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A North Texas man is spreading holiday cheer and wisdom across generations. What started as a childhood friendship…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[430,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-92110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-north-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}