CLEVELAND — Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week for the Christian faith. With many church services now being held online due to COVID-19 concerns, some were not able to get their palm leaves, but a retired florist made sure people in his community didn’t go without.
Phillip Cloud gathered 8,000 palms to donate Saturday and Sunday. He says they serve as a big source of comfort to some people - so he wanted to make sure they were still able to get them.
One by one, people drove up to Cloud Florist on Cedar Avenue and drove away with handfuls of the palms that mean so much to them and their faith.
The shop used to be run by Cloud. Now, his son does the day to day operations.
Normally, they sell the palms every year. But because the shop is still doing well financially despite the economic hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic they decided to give them away - free of charge.
“I’m very tired, and its a great tired feeling,” Cloud said.
Yvonne Polk, of Cleveland, came out to get some for her mom.
“I turned my music off and I came up here and I’m going to go back and I’m going to shout for glory because she wanted these palms. Anything for my mother, I will do,” Polk said.
Cloud says seeing reactions like Polk’s is the reason why he decided to do this.
“The people they just come out to you and they appreciate it, and I appreciate being able to do it,” Cloud said.
Cloud says he gave out several hundred palms Sunday. Many people tried to give him donations in return, but he refused and said he’s just doing his part.
Jade Jarvis is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
