Man drives 1,200 miles to deliver 49 wooden crosses to Orlando
In the wake of
last weekend’s massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., a man drove more
than 1,000 miles from his Chicago home to deliver 49 large wooden crosses to
Orlando Regional Medical Center in honor of each of the mass shooting victims.
“My message
today is love your brother, love your neighbor,” Greg Zanis told reporters
Thursday as he was unloading them. “Don’t judge them.”
The 65-year-old
carpenter used donated lumber to create the three-foot-tall crosses — each
bearing a victim’s name and emblazoned with a red heart — in his garage
workshop, then made the 17-hour trek from Illinois to central Florida to set up
the makeshift memorial.
“I’m doing this
for their families,” Zanis told the Tennessean during a stop in Nashville,
Tenn., where he’s originally from. “This individualizes it.”
He also brought
markers so mourners could write messages on them.
“Wait until you
see these in a week,” he said. “You won’t even see the heart. It’ll be a major
focal point.”
Zanis’ crosses
have become a familiar sight in communities reeling from tragedy — in 2012, he
delivered them to Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., following those mass
shootings, and to Boston after the 2013 marathon bombings.
But the tribute
in Orlando is Zanis’ biggest memorial to date.
“When you see
all these lined up, it will be like ‘Oh my God’ and they will see the severity
of what happened,” Zanis told the paper.
Forty-nine
people were killed and 53 others wounded in the June 12 attack at Pulse
nightclub — the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
“It is an act of
Christian love,” Zanis said. “Even though some of these people might not be
Christians, I have never been turned back.”
While Zanis
wasn’t looking for recognition — according to the Tennessean, his plan was put
the crosses out in the middle of the night and “slip out of town before the sun
comes up” — his gesture did not go unnoticed.
Florida Gov.
Rick Scott was among those showing their appreciation.
“Thank you,
Greg,” Scott tweeted.
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