After the horrifying Las Vegas attack, Greg Zanis built and placed 58 crosses behind the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign to honor the victims and bring comfort to their families.
“I feel that Las Vegas is having one of its darkest days, but I’m trying to shed a light on that by bringing hope with the cross and showing that ‘you weren’t alone when this happened’,” Greg described in a news report on October 5th.
And it wasn’t the first time that Greg devoted time, money and heart to a worthy cause. Over the last 20 years, carpenter Greg has constructed over 14 000 crosses for victims and their families.
After finding his “best friend” and father-in-law murdered in 1996, Greg put up a cross at his father-in-law’s house in his memory. After that, he determined that he would “put up a cross for anyone, anywhere,” Greg’s daughter explains to Fox5. All people had to do was ask.
Greg has put up crosses for tragedies such as Columbine, the Colorado movie theatre shooting, Sandy Hook Elementary and Orlando.
In 2016, he was even asked to build a cross for everyone who was murdered during the year in Chicago. He built 747 crosses in 3 weeks.
Greg says that it’s difficult to keep up with all the tragedies – both mentally and in terms of his building efforts.
“I can’t even keep crosses in my garage, it seems like every time I make ’em they go,” he tells Fox5 Las Vegas.
Pays for everything himself
Greg doesn’t just build the crosses himself, he also covers their construction and the cross of taking them to their final location himself. He has driven the same pick up truck for 20 years, and recently the tailgate broke open while he was driving, spilling the contents of the van across the road.
His daughter even describes how she has asked her dad to stop making crosses due to the strain it puts on their family.
“My family hasn’t got a lot of money. We get food from the food pantry,” she explains. “I don’t wanna’ see my family get upset with him for spending money because my family needed that money to pay rent.”
But still, Greg was determined to continue with his work and fulfill his ambition. He wanted to make victims of tragedies and their families know that they haven’t been forgotten. Luckily, when Fox5 discovered Greg’s story, they decided to make sure that he wouldn’t be forgotten either.
In an emotional interview, the news channel decided to suprise Greg with a visit from his daughter, who he thought was back home on the other side of the country. But that wasn’t all they had in store…
Watch the clip below to see the suprise gifts that good samaritan Greg was given to honor his tireless work:
I’m in tears watching Greg’s incredible story. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of support. These surprise gifts are just a small token of appreciation for the decades of work and comfort Greg has brought to families across the country.
Help us to honor Greg by sharing his incredible story.
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