Chicago Man Travels Across the Country to Honor Las Vegas Victims with Cross Display
"It gets complicated. But I do it for the families. This does not get easier. My heart is not made of wood,” Zanis said.
Greg Zanis didn’t understand or believe the circumstances, but he loaded up dozens of handmade crosses in the back of his pick-up truck and drove from Chicago to Las Vegas to honor the fallen victims in the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting.
In the aftermath of every mass shooting tragedy in recent years, Zanis honors the innocent lives taken by nailing up a line of white crosses in the towns where each massacre took place. From the school shooting in Columbine to the Pulse Nightclub attack in Orlando, Zanis always feels the need to bring faith back into those communities and offer hope to those grieving.
Zanis first heard the news about the Vegas tragedy early Monday morning when a $1200 donation for gas money showed up at his doorstep. When an employee from ArchAngels Biorecovery appeared with a check from the company, Zanis was in major disbelief over the news and the high victim count since he had never heard of a massacre on that scale before.
“At first, when he told me what happened, I didn’t believe him,” said Zanis to the Chicago Tribune. “And then I just cried.”
Just days later, Zanis arrived in Las Vegas where city officials had 250 feet open along a main stretch of road for the carpenter to place the crosses in. Planting the 58 pieces, complete with a heart and each of the victim’s names attached, Zanis stuck to his main role of providing comfort and peace of mind to the families and friends even though he himself still feels unsettled over the terrible incident.
“It gets complicated. But I do it for the families. This does not get easier. My heart is not made of wood,” he said.
On Sunday night (Oct. 1), 58 innocent people lost their lives with more than 500 people injured while attending the closing concert at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Donations and fundraisers have been created in order to help the victim’s families recover. Blood donations are being accepted via the American Red Cross, and multiple GoFundMe pages have been created in an effort to raise funds for the families affected.
