A dad writes letters to strangers in need and becomes the father figure they’ve been missing

Seeking a new direction after earning his PhD, Rosie Paulik’s father — a devoted father figure — became the heart of a viral TikTok project now inspiring thousands.

Known as the Dad Letter Project, it highlights his passion for writing letters, a tradition he has kept with Rosie since she was a teenager.

From summer camp to college and into adulthood, he never missed a chance to write. Rosie once shared that his love for writing is stronger than “most people love their kids.”

The passion of a father figure turns into a global movement

In the viral video, Rosie invited others to be part of the experience.

“Would you want a letter from my dad?” Paulik asked. “Or know someone who could use a little kindness from a retired professor with a killer signature and a fountain pen?”

She expected only a few responses, but hundreds of requests soon arrived from all over the world. People asked for writing letters to strangers to bring them comfort and hope.

Her father, 67-year-old Buz Ecker, embraced the idea and spent hours daily sending personal notes.

Rosie officially named the Dad Letter Project and created a website titled “Mail That’ll Make You Smile (or Cry, in a Good Way).”

A father figure for those who need one

Buz said it was significant to be a stand-in dad for those who didn’t have one.

“It’s very gratifying to be people’s fathers who don’t have one,” he said.

He and other volunteer dads now write to people who have lost fathers, struggled under challenging relationships, or needed encouragement.

Letters that heal and inspire

One of those letters reached Amy Woods in Chatham, England.

She had been scrolling on her phone on the anniversary of her father’s passing when Rosie’s TikTok appeared. Woods sent her address, but she was unsure if she would receive a reply.

Weeks later, a handwritten letter arrived with an airmail tag.

“It really reminded me of how much — oh, I feel like I’m going to cry saying it now — of how much love I have for my dad,” said Woods, 41.

Her reaction mirrored hundreds of others worldwide who received heartfelt letters from men they had never met.

Requests for the project surged again when ABC News featured the story in August.

A lifetime of letter writing

Buz’s passion for letters began in childhood when his mother, Peg, wrote him hundreds of letters. At the same time, he attended camp and later studied English at Denison University.

When his children — John, Annie, and Rosie — went to camp, he kept the tradition alive.

“HI ROSIE!!!” Buz wrote in June 2005, when Paulik was at camp in Traverse City, Michigan. “I LOVE YOU AND I ALREADY MISS YOU A TON!”

Rosie recalled that whenever a letter didn’t arrive, she assumed someone at camp had forgotten to deliver it.

Even when she worked as a teenage counselor and later studied strategic communications at the University of Kentucky, her father figure kept writing daily.

Even now, the letters continue with Rosie living just 20 minutes away. Some detail simple moments, like what sandwich he had for lunch.

Others share more dramatic events, like a swarm of hornets attacking him. Sometimes he included dialogue from his wife, Betsy, pausing mid-letter to note what she was saying.

Rosie has saved thousands of these letters in a red bin at her Ohio home.

The heart of the Dad Letter Project

Buz now wakes up at 4:30 a.m. and writes for about four hours.

His notes mix humor, family stories, and reflections on grief. He often shares light moments about Paulik’s cat or how the family dogs, Pearl and Piper, love to get muddy near the river.

This daily act of kindness is the driving force behind the Dad Letter Project.

Some letters touch on challenging experiences. In one case, he wrote to a grieving mother and shared how his grandmother Evelyn had a stillborn baby in 1918.

Despite the serious themes, he remains playful, joking about getting lost while driving and his habit of jumping out of closets to prank his wife.

The project has more than 1,600 pending requests and has mailed about 350 letters.

Buz has personally written roughly half of them and says the cost is nothing compared to the joy it brings.

A father figure inspiring a chain of kindness

Rosie hopes to register the effort as a nonprofit and recruit more volunteers.

She has already brought in more than a dozen dads, including Darren Timmeney from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who once left notes in his children’s lunch boxes before school.

Now retired, Timmeney said that writing letters gives him renewed purpose and helps keep the project growing.

For Woods, the letter she received is now stored in a special box with other family mementos. She said it will stay there forever, a reminder of the power of connection.

The Dad Letter Project continues to prove that a single devoted father figure with a pen and a little bit of time can spread hope, healing, and kindness to people everywhere.

Watch Buz Ecker and Rosie Paulik share their touching story in an interview with TODAY: