On Dec. 17, thousands of North Texas families excitedly headed to the Dallas Zoo for one of the most beloved events of the holiday season: United Way’s Jungle Bells. Now in its ninth year, the magical family-friendly event brings communities together and enables families to attend the Dallas Zoo Lights Presented by Reliant at no cost. Attendees also enjoy music, food and entertainment and connect with a variety of community organizations. 

Jungle Bells is hosted in collaboration with two of our early childhood programs, HOPES (Healthy Outcomes through Prevention & Early Support) and the Texas Home Visiting Program. By celebrating and strengthening parent-child connections, the event supports our Aspire United 2030 goals, which aim to improve access to education, income and health so all North Texans can thrive. 

Read on to learn more about Jungle Bells, our early childhood programs and their impact on local families, as well as how you can be part of the Live United movement to ensure all North Texans have the opportunity to thrive. 

Supporting Local Families 

Each holiday season, our team at United Way of Metropolitan Dallas is thrilled to host Jungle Bells, a free family-friendly event that enables local families to attend the Dallas Zoo Lights Presented by Reliant for free to create lasting memories. Attendees also enjoy free food, music, fun holiday crafts and giveaways.  

This year’s Jungle Bells was open to United Way of Metropolitan Dallas community partners and families participating in Home Visiting programs. The free event included around 5,000 attendees and volunteers representing various ZIP codes across Dallas County and nearby communities.  

Highlights of the evening included: 

• Free food, parking and giveaways 

• A performance by the Mavs ManiAACs 

• A resource fair with more than 40 vendors offering valuable information and services 

• A photo booth, raffles and family-friendly entertainment throughout the evening 

“Jungle Bells is more than a holiday celebration—it’s an opportunity to empower families by fostering joyful, positive connections between parents and children,” said Jennifer Sampson, McDermott-Templeton president and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “Through our HOPES and Texas Home Visiting programs, we work every day to equip parents with tools, support, and guidance to build strong families. This event is a fun and meaningful way to extend this mission to thousands of local families.” 

The evening was part of our Aspire United Volunteer Series presented by Texas Instruments, with 100 volunteers helping make the event a success by assisting community partners and supporting the attendee experience. We also partnered with an exceptional line-up of sponsors to make Jungle Bells a success. Thanks to AAA, AT&T , Blue Cross Blue Shield, HHSC, Samsung and Texas Instruments (our Centennial Sponsor), the event offered a variety of resources and activities for attendees at no cost.  

A special thank you to AT&T, whose volunteers packed and provided 3,000 early literacy kits—including books from our Once Upon a Month partnership—to encourage children to fall in love with reading. And a big thanks to AAA, which provided 1,500 snack kits for attendees to support food access and healthy eating, and Blue Cross Blue Shield, whose employees stuffed 1,000 event bags containing educational materials. 

Setting Local Parents Up for Success 

During Jungle Bells and throughout the year, we provide support services and educational resources to parents to foster healthy, caring home lives. Together with our committed supporters, we give parents the tools and knowledge they need to empower parents and eliminate common parenting stressors.  

Jungle Bells is just one initiative spearheaded by our HOPES and Texas Home Visit Program teams. Here’s how these vital programs support families with young children: 

• HOPES: HOPES helps local parents create home environments in which young children can thrive. Working with clinics, organizations and government agencies, the program seeks to reduce instances of child maltreatment by helping improve parenting skills through instruction, support and connections to community resources. 

• Texas Home Visiting Program (THVP): THVP supports people in becoming great parents. This free program for soon-to-be-parents and those with children under the age of 5 matches Dallas and Collin County families with a trained home visitor—a nurse, experienced parent, trained professional or volunteer—to answer questions, offer advice, provide support and teach parents how to prepare their kids for kindergarten. 

During our last fiscal year, HOPES and THVP provided more than 33,000 hours of programming to 1,263 families, helping to prevent Child Protective Services involvement in 98.5% of participating families. 

Join Us in Supporting North Texas Families 

With the support of volunteers and nonprofit and corporate partners, our initiatives improve access to education, income and health for families across North Texas. We invite you to Live United and be part of this meaningful change in our community. 

Here are three ways you can get involved right now: 

• Give: Make a one-time or recurring donation of any size to invest in our initiatives that improve access to education right here in our community.  

• Advocate: The Texas Legislature convenes for its 89th session on Jan. 14, 2025. Join United Way in advocating for key bills that will impact education, financial security and health in North Texas. To get started, sign up for our Advocacy Alerts. 

• Volunteer: We frequently host volunteer programs that support local students, workers and families. Keep an eye on current and upcoming opportunities on our volunteer page.