Blackshear alumni bring gifts to Hearne nursing home residents

Residents of Hearne'sCrossroads Nursing and Rehabilitation Center felt the love Saturday as alumni of Blackshear High School gave nearly 70 Valentine's gift bags to the residents.

"The main thing our class wants to do is help this community," said William Foster III, who now lives in Houston. "... These people are here because they have no choice. We don't want to stick them here and just leave them here. We want them to know that we love them."

As Crossroads residents enjoyed a meal of chicken and biscuits on Saturday, and four Blackshear High alumni drove in from as far as Fort Worth, Waco and Houston to bring the senior citizens gift bags that contained a water bottle, scented hand lotion and fluffy winter socks. Several dozen bags were also assembled for caregivers and nurses, and on Wednesday, all residents of the nursing home will receive roses from the class as well.

Since 2011, the 30 surviving members of the class of 1967 have continued to meet up regularly despite being spread across the state and to organize charitable efforts for Hearne. Recently, the group assisted Hearne High School students in obtaining scholarships, and their plans for the future include hosting children's day camps, painting a house and planting flowers at the city cemetery.

Blackshear High School was a school for black students in Hearne before Texas schools were desegregated by federal order in 1971.

Foster and his friends recognized a few of the residents from their days growing up in Hearne. Foster embraced one resident, Edna Davis, whom he said was like a second mother to him in the 1950s and '60s. Davis reminisced how Foster was kind and helpful even as a little boy.

"This means a lot to me," she told The Eagle after receiving her gift bag.

Crossroads nurse Courtney Vu said that many of the residents don't get visitors.

"This is a little extra special," she said. "This is something different for them to see; not the same old thing."

"I'm just glad to be here," said Jimmie Foster Green-Taylor, William Foster's older sister and a member of the Blackshear class of 1964. "I want to let these people know that we remember who they were in our lives."

Hearne has changed significantly since the 1960s, William Foster said. He feels the city is still too segregated and said he has seen a decline in locally owned businesses. But he remembers what it was like as a little boy and a teen growing up, when everyone knew everyone else's name, and neighbors cared for and even raised one another.

"We make it our business to come here and visit," he said. "A lot of the people in this town gave to me. It was a village, and they took care of me."

The small group hopes that with its service projects, each funded out of its own pockets, it can inspire current Hearne residents to foster that same sense of community and give back to the city that is now raising them, too.