{"id":1150,"date":"2025-10-29T13:09:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:09:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brickellsold.com\/blog\/spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:46:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:46:38","slug":"spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brickellsold.com\/blog\/spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude\/","title":{"rendered":"Spooky for a Cause: NC Homeowner\u2019s Halloween Displays Help Raise Over $1 Million for St. Jude"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<p>When <strong>Jeff Robertson<\/strong> of Holly Springs, NC, created an elaborate Halloween display in 2020, he had no idea at the time that he was starting a movement.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m not an artsy kind of guy, so I had to learn a lot,&#8221; Robertson tells Realtor.com\u00ae&nbsp;. &#8220;I made boards to shutter all the windows, and the display took me about a month.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Before they knew it, neighbors were arriving in droves, and after a local news station covered their Halloween setup, even more visitors followed suit.<\/p>\n<p>And with more visitors came the opportunity to do some good. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Robertson&#8217;s 2020 Halloween display, where a &#8220;skeleton army&#8221; was attacking his house to get inside and get to the candy. <span class=\"image-credit\">(Jeff Robertson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brickellsold.com\/blog\/spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude\/#Turning_recognition_into_impact\" >Turning recognition into impact<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brickellsold.com\/blog\/spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude\/#A_moment_that_sparked_a_mission\" >A moment that sparked a mission<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brickellsold.com\/blog\/spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude\/#Spreading_the_word\" >Spreading the word<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brickellsold.com\/blog\/spooky-for-a-cause-nc-homeowners-halloween-displays-help-raise-over-1-million-for-st-jude\/#Remarkable_results\" >Remarkable results<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-turning-recognition-into-impact\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Turning_recognition_into_impact\"><\/span>Turning recognition into impact<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Robertson explains that he and his family wanted to put their 15 minutes to good use. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We had a family meeting after the news story broke, and said, &#8216;What can we do to take the spotlight off the Robertsons?,'&#8221; he recalls. &#8220;My kids immediately said, &#8216;Raise money for St. Jude.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Their family had already been donating to the St. Jude&nbsp;Children\u2019s Research Hospital, which treats the toughest childhood cancers and pediatric disease, for years, motivated by their commitment to families in need. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Families never receive a bill from St. Jude\u00a0for treatment, travel, housing, or food, since they&#8217;re all funded by donations,&#8221; Robertson says.<\/p>\n<p>He stayed up very late that night figuring out how to set up a fundraiser, setting the goal &#8220;pretty low&#8221; in case their good intentions backfired. To his surprise, they ended up raising more than $8,000.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Three realtors in our neighborhood\u2014<strong>Jennifer Munoz<\/strong>, <strong>Heather Donovan<\/strong>, and <strong>Allison Iudica<\/strong>\u2014supported this effort from the beginning,&#8221; he says. &#8220;There were so many generous people, it was really overwhelming.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-moment-that-sparked-a-mission\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_moment_that_sparked_a_mission\"><\/span>A moment that sparked a mission<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Then one night that fateful October, a man approached Robertson&#8217;s front porch in tears.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He said, &#8216;Thank you for what you and family are doing to raise money\u2014we&#8217;re a St. Jude family,'&#8221; Robertson recalls. &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After that interaction, Robertson went back into his house and told his wife through his own tears, &#8220;I think we&#8217;re going to keep decorating and raising money next year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Having just retired from the U.S. Army after 21 years in the service, Robertson explains that he was looking for &#8220;purpose&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; he says. &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/na.rdcpix.com\/004c19ab9f1d09e9e54beb8c05661a0fw-c1300416133srd_q80.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Robertson\" class=\"wp-image-1078566\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Robertson&#8217;s 2021 Halloween display <span class=\"image-credit\">(Jeff Robertson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/na.rdcpix.com\/589a15a9b37a5121f25c3dbf723de095w-c4185683616srd_q80.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Robertson\" class=\"wp-image-1078569\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Robertson in front of his 2022 Halloween display <span class=\"image-credit\">(Courtesy of Jeff Robertson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-spreading-the-word\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Spreading_the_word\"><\/span>Spreading the word<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The next year, Robertson promoted his fundraising idea on Halloween-enthusiast pages on social media, and other families joined his cause.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Then in 2022, a man named <strong>Mark Kozik <\/strong>contacted Robertson out of the blue and offered to help build, design and manage a website to promote the fundraiser they were now calling &#8220;Skeletons for St. Jude.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark doesn&#8217;t ask for a thing in return\u2014he just wants to help,&#8221; Robertson says. &#8220;He&#8217;s been instrumental in getting the word out nationwide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Now, the&nbsp;Skeletons for&nbsp;St. Jude&nbsp;fundraiser&nbsp;has grown to more than 1,000 families across the U.S.\u2014and 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/na.rdcpix.com\/45e0f2e8e591bcb1a1ad0fe2ea8f0bd1w-c3002620440srd_q80.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Robertson\" class=\"wp-image-1078588\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Robertson&#8217;s 2023 Halloween display <span class=\"image-credit\">(Jeff Robertson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/na.rdcpix.com\/b4b67a69b476715eecdef1e7b4f46978w-c901664936srd_q80.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Robertson\" class=\"wp-image-1078597\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Robertson&#8217;s 2024 Halloween display <span class=\"image-credit\">(Jeff Robertson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/na.rdcpix.com\/4dcb498a963ce6157f8bb20692855906w-c1293433900srd_q80.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1079146\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jeff Robertson&#8217;s 2025 Halloween display <span class=\"image-credit\">(Jeff Robertson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-remarkable-results\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Remarkable_results\"><\/span>Remarkable results<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Every October, Robertson comes up with a different &#8220;Skeleton Army&#8221; theme for his Halloween display. &#8220;Our neighborhood and the cause has definitely motivated me to improve and get more elaborate from year to year,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<p>In a mere five years, more money has been raised than Robertson ever thought possible.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A few days ago, we broke the million-dollar mark,&#8221; he says. &#8220;We&#8217;ve now officially raised $1,007,889 since 2020. And the vast majority of that has come from small donations\u20145, 10, 15 bucks. It\u2019s really a grassroots thing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Robertson says this experience has taught his kids to &#8220;do something bigger than yourself.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They have been able to see what a concept and an idea can become with hard work,&#8221; he says. &#8220;And they&#8217;ve met St. Jude families and have gotten to see what an incredible impact it&#8217;s had.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>To support Robertson&#8217;s mission and get involved, visit Skeletons for Hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spooky for a Cause: NC Homeowner\u2019s Halloween Displays Help Raise Over $1 Million for St. Jude: When Jeff Robertson of Holly Springs, NC, created an elaborate Ha<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"Spooky for a Cause: NC Homeowner\u2019s Halloween Displays Help Raise Over $1 Million for St. Jude | Brickellsold","rank_math_description":"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. 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