STAFFORD – Houston communities are creatively spreading joy and hope during the coronavirus pandemic.
At the corner of James Lane and Gina Street in Stafford, there is a sign and a handful of simply-built wooden crosses. People are allowed to take one for free.
“People just come and stop and ask ‘Can I have them?'” said Richard Plata, Sr. “Take them!”
Plata Sr. and his son, Richard Plata, Jr., have spent hours building these crosses in the back yard.
His wife Patsy told him she wanted to put the family’s lit-up cross in the yard for Easter, which prompted the idea for Plata Sr.
When the neighbors wanted to show solidarity, the Platas said they went to Home Depot to grab more supplies.
They said they got a deal on some picket and decided to build more than 150 crosses.
As of Palm Sunday, at least 120 people have picked them up, and if you look around their Stafford neighborhood, plenty of homes are sporting the crosses in their yards.
“I’m not doing it for me, so I can say ‘look what I did,' I’m doing it for the Lord,” said Plata, Sr. “With all of this virus going around, we need him now.”