FORT WORTH PASTOR RECEIVES JUSTSERVE “HEART OF SERVICE” AWARD DURING JUNETEENTH LEGACY PROJECT ON JUNE 20TH.

FORT WORTH PASTOR RECEIVES JUSTSERVE “HEART OF SERVICE” AWARD DURING JUNETEENTH LEGACY PROJECT ON JUNE 20TH.

At a Historic Black Cemetery, a Celebration of Service Becomes a Moment of Unity, Memory, and Dignity

By Black Texans, Inc. | CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/video/volunteers-work-to-document-black-history-at-haltom-city-cemetery/

HALTOM CITY, Texas — Beneath the sprawling branches of an old pecan tree known affectionately as the Togetherness Tree, neighbors gathered on June 20, 2026, for the Digging for Dignity Juneteenth Find-A-Grave Legacy Project at Historic Fretwell Cemetery–New Trinity Cemetery within the People’s Memorial Burial Park.

The morning was already special.

Volunteers had traveled from across North Texas to help document graves, preserve history, and reconnect families with ancestors whose stories had too often been forgotten. The sounds of gospel music floated through the warm Texas air as the One Community Choir lifted songs of hope, remembrance, and faith.

Then something unexpected happened.

Dr. Spencer Smith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stepped forward and asked the crowd for a moment of attention.

“This presentation is a surprise,” he announced.

As the gathering grew quiet, Dr. Smith began speaking about the life and work of Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr., Senior Pastor of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, President of the Ministers Justice Coalition of Texas, and Chaplain of the Texas Buffalo Soldiers Association

Moments later, he welcomed Beverly Blaylock of JustServe Fort Worth to the front (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtTr5A1elmg).

A gentle breeze swept across the cemetery grounds.

Many would later describe what followed as one of the most moving moments of the day.

Blaylock presented Pastor Tatum with the prestigious America250 Heart of Service Award, presented by JustServe in collaboration with America250, the official national commemoration of the United States’ 250th Anniversary.

The award is part of America Gives, a nationwide initiative encouraging Americans to make 2026 the largest year of volunteer service in the nation’s history. Through America Gives, individuals and organizations are challenged to increase volunteerism, strengthen communities, and report their service hours as the nation celebrates its Semiquincentennial.

The Heart of Service Award recognizes extraordinary volunteers whose leadership brings people together, inspires others to serve, and creates lasting impact in their communities.

The recognition is intentionally rare.

Only 1,000 America250 Heart of Service Awards will be presented throughout the Southwest region. In Fort Worth, the honor is even more selective. Only five individuals have been chosen to receive the award, placing Pastor Tatum among a distinguished group of civic leaders whose lives reflect the highest ideals of volunteer service and community engagement.

As those words settled over the crowd gathered beneath the Togetherness Tree, the significance of the moment became clear.

This was not simply recognition for a single event.

It was recognition for a lifetime of service.

For those who know Pastor Tatum, the recognition seemed especially fitting.

His commitment to community service traces back to his days at the University of North Texas, where he became the first African American recipient of the university’s Centennial Community Service Award in 1990 for his efforts to strengthen campus and community life.

Since then, service has become both his calling and his ministry.

Under his leadership, New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church has become known as a Holy House of Hospitality—a place where faith is expressed through action.

From creating the Pipeline to Possibilities Initiative with UNT Dallas and LULAC Council 22308, to launching the Community Food Bowl and Funkytown Food Forest to combat food insecurity, to establishing a Clinic Without Walls during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pastor Tatum has consistently transformed challenges into opportunities for healing, hope, and community growth.

More recently, through the Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley CommuniVersity Center, he has expanded opportunities for citizenship education, workforce development, community health, and economic mobility, helping individuals and families move from crisis to opportunity.

Yet when he accepted the award, he immediately shifted attention away from himself.

Instead, he recognized two families whose legacy made the day possible: the Fretwell Family and the Baker Family.

Their story is one of perseverance, faith, and dignity.

In 1886, when Pastor Greene Fretwell died, racial discrimination prevented his burial in a white cemetery. Refusing to allow their loved one to be denied dignity in death, his wife, Mother France Fretwell, and members of New Trinity Methodist Church pooled their resources and purchased land at the corner of Northeast 28th Street and Beach Street.

That sacred act created a church and cemetery for the Black community.

Four decades later, the Baker Funeral Home family expanded that vision by purchasing adjoining land and helping establish what became the People’s Memorial Burial Park in 1926.

Together, the Fretwell and Baker families created one of the most significant African-American burial grounds in North Texas.

Standing among thousands of graves, Pastor Tatum reminded the crowd why their work mattered.

“When we reclaim the names of our ancestors’ remains, we reconnect generations to their loved ones—and ultimately to Heaven.”

Those words transformed the atmosphere.

What began as a preservation project became something deeper.

Black, White, and Brown volunteers stood shoulder to shoulder.

Members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Christian Holy Sanctified Church, Missionary Baptist Church, Southern Baptist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and community organizations worked together in a powerful display of unity.

Historical barriers of race, denomination, and geography seemed to fade beneath the shade of the Togetherness Tree.

Many participants described the gathering as a spiritual experience.

Others called it a glimpse of what America can become when service takes precedence over division.

The event represented one of the most significant community preservation efforts in recent Texas history, with volunteers documenting graves, preserving records, and restoring dignity to thousands of forgotten burial sites.

Yet the greatest accomplishment may have been the relationships built that day.

For a few sacred hours, people from different backgrounds came together around a common mission: honoring the dead, serving the living, and preserving the future.

The moment echoed the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 20:26-28:

“Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”

Those verses have become a blueprint for Pastor Tatum’s life and ministry.

And on that warm June morning, they came alive beneath the branches of an old pecan tree.

Long after the volunteers returned home and the songs faded into memory, June 20, 2026, will be remembered as a day when a circle of churches came together to Dig for Dignity.

A day when forgotten names were reclaimed.

A day when history was honored.

A day when communities found common ground.

A day when remembrance inspired service.

And a day when one of Fort Worth’s five America250 Heart of Service honorees was recognized not for what he had achieved for himself, but for what he had helped others achieve together.

For in the end, the greatest legacy is not what we build for ourselves.

It is what we do for others.

And on that day beneath the Togetherness Tree, service became sacred.

As America prepares to celebrate 250 years of independence, the lesson from a historic Black cemetery in Haltom City is both timeless and profound:

The strongest nation is built by people who choose to serve.