Jefferson Award Winner Lights Up The Holidays To Help A Neighbor

CLAYTON (KPIX 5)  It's a one-of-a-kind holiday lights spectacular in the East Bay -- amazing not just because of the show, but the man behind it: this week's Bay Area Jefferson Award winner.

Jeff Holmes puts on a production that he calls a mini version of Disney's Fantasmic. He does it to help a teenaged girl and her family. The 23-year-old unleashes fountains, fog, and 60,000 festive lights on his family's two-acre property in Clayton.

He calls the month-long spectacular "A Heart for Christmas." It's a fundraiser for his 12-year-old friend and neighbor, Katie-Grace Groebner. She and her family moved from Minnesota six years ago to get treatment at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital for her pulmonary hypertension. She's now recovering from a heart-lung transplant.

"If we can do a really good show that people want to see, they come here, they see it. Then we get to tell them about Katie-Grace, it's a win-win situation," Holmes explained.

"It makes me feel really good," Groebner said.

Her mother, Kathy Groebner, says the family can't thank Holmes enough for his generosity.

"He just has that heart and when you meet him, it comes out," she said.

The light show Holmes produced last year raised $3000 for Groebner's medical bills. This year, the show is bigger and better.  Holmes projects animation onto the the front of his house and orchestrates a 20-minute story about a small snowman decorating for Christmas.

The planning process takes months and up to a hundred volunteers. So far, the show's raising thousands of dollars for Katie-Grace's ongoing needs.

"There are medicines she still has to continue," Holmes said. "She has to move because of a variety of post-op illnesses. If I can find a way to use my talents to help a little girl, awesome."

So for helping support a family in need while he brightens his whole community, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Jeff Holmes.

Note: A Heart for Christmas display continues every night through December 28. Admission is free, but you are welcome to donate to the Katie Grace Fund of the Children's Organ Transplant Association. So far, there have been more than 5000 visitors.