When Jeff Robertson of Holly Springs, NC, created an elaborate Halloween display in 2020, he had no idea at the time that he was starting a movement.
His kids were 10 and 12 at the time, and he thought it would be fun to create a scene of skeletons attacking the house.
“I’m not an artsy kind of guy, so I had to learn a lot,” Robertson tells Realtor.com® . “I made boards to shutter all the windows, and the display took me about a month.”
Before they knew it, neighbors were arriving in droves, and after a local news station covered their Halloween setup, even more visitors followed suit.
And with more visitors came the opportunity to do some good.
Turning recognition into impact
Robertson explains that he and his family wanted to put their 15 minutes to good use.
“We had a family meeting after the news story broke, and said, ‘What can we do to take the spotlight off the Robertsons?,'” he recalls. “My kids immediately said, ‘Raise money for St. Jude.'”
Their family had already been donating to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which treats the toughest childhood cancers and pediatric disease, for years, motivated by their commitment to families in need.
“Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, since they’re all funded by donations,” Robertson says.
He stayed up very late that night figuring out how to set up a fundraiser, setting the goal “pretty low” in case their good intentions backfired. To his surprise, they ended up raising more than $8,000.
“Three realtors in our neighborhood—Jennifer Munoz, Heather Donovan, and Allison Iudica—supported this effort from the beginning,” he says. “There were so many generous people, it was really overwhelming.”
A moment that sparked a mission
Then one night that fateful October, a man approached Robertson’s front porch in tears.
“He said, ‘Thank you for what you and family are doing to raise money—we’re a St. Jude family,'” Robertson recalls. “He motioned me down to his car. His daughter was in the backseat. She was 2 1/2 or 3 years old and was obviously going through treatment. But she was laughing and grinning at the skeletons, and she was happy. The display put her in a good place for just a moment in time.”
After that interaction, Robertson went back into his house and told his wife through his own tears, “I think we’re going to keep decorating and raising money next year.”
Having just retired from the U.S. Army after 21 years in the service, Robertson explains that he was looking for “purpose”.
“When I was in the military, I was traveling the world and seeing things like women get to vote for the first time in other countries,” he says. “It was very powerful. Then I retired and all of a sudden, I was just sitting in my house. I was looking for a purpose, and this gave me that purpose.”
Spreading the word
The next year, Robertson promoted his fundraising idea on Halloween-enthusiast pages on social media, and other families joined his cause.
Then in 2022, a man named Mark Kozik contacted Robertson out of the blue and offered to help build, design and manage a website to promote the fundraiser they were now calling “Skeletons for St. Jude.”
“Mark doesn’t ask for a thing in return—he just wants to help,” Robertson says. “He’s been instrumental in getting the word out nationwide.”
Now, the Skeletons for St. Jude fundraiser has grown to more than 1,000 families across the U.S.—and 515 homes are decorating for donations this year so far. As of publication, the fundraiser has raised $687,184 towards their $700,000 goal this year.
Remarkable results
Every October, Robertson comes up with a different “Skeleton Army” theme for his Halloween display. “Our neighborhood and the cause has definitely motivated me to improve and get more elaborate from year to year,” he says.
In a mere five years, more money has been raised than Robertson ever thought possible.
“A few days ago, we broke the million-dollar mark,” he says. “We’ve now officially raised $1,007,889 since 2020. And the vast majority of that has come from small donations—5, 10, 15 bucks. It’s really a grassroots thing.”
Robertson says this experience has taught his kids to “do something bigger than yourself.”
“They have been able to see what a concept and an idea can become with hard work,” he says. “And they’ve met St. Jude families and have gotten to see what an incredible impact it’s had.”
To support Robertson’s mission and get involved, visit Skeletons for Hope.
0 Comments