Village of Sanford, MI, receives generous gift, local resident thankful for the new landmark

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    SANFORD, MI (WNEM ) — A new addition to the Village of Sanford is a big bright red heart donning words we all know to be true – Sanford Strong.

“Actually, it was a piece that was donated,” said Teresa Quintana, a Sanford resident.

Quintana has helped plenty of Sanford residents the past three months and says the idea came from the Zent-X Media Group to have something interactive for residents.

“It’s an extremely thoughtful gesture,” said Quintana. “It’s been really well received by the community.”

With the Village of Sanford still living day by day in destruction, the bright red heart is more symbolic than many may realize.

“It kind of has a symbol of hope for the residents of Sanford,” said Quintana.

A moment of calm as the sculpture rests peacefully underneath the American and state flags.

“It’s nice to have something that’s pretty to look at because we’ve been kind of living in this disaster zone for the past three months,” said Quintana.

In the meantime, 400 smaller hearts are being crafted to make the sculpture more personal than it already is.

“Those hearts that are being made are going to be decorated by residents in the community,” said Quintana. “They can write messages on them or a tribute, whatever they would like. Then they’ll be attached to the sculpture.”

The heart perfectly captures what every Sanford resident, like Quintana, has – a big beating heart.

“We’ll rebuild,” said Quintana. “It’s going to be a long process and it’s going to take some time, but it will be beautiful to look at again.”

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