The City of Detroit is calling on hundreds of volunteers to help out with honoring residents who died from COVID-19 in a memorial planned for Monday.
The city needs about 400 people to sign up for the memorial drive at Belle Isle Park. Families will drive past enlarged photos of the loved one they lost to complications from the virus.
15 processions, led by hearses, will take place. More than 900 photos will be featured.
Mayor Mike Duggan declared the day as Detroit Memorial Day to remember residents who did not have the funerals that they deserved due to the coronavirus pandemic.
He will speak at 8:30 a.m. At 8:45 a.m., he will call for the bells to ring across the island and the city.
Volunteers from the Belle Isle Conservacy, in white gloves, will give flowers to the mourners as they pass.
Volunteer roles include park cleanup, guiding families on the proper route, transporting materials to staff, and helping with check-in.
All volunteers will be asked to adhere to CDC guidelines of wearing masks, handwashing and social distancing. The city says personal protective equipment (PPE) will be provided.
Families have agreed not to leave their car.
“Detroiters care deeply for one another, and we felt it was important and necessary to provide an opportunity for members of this community to collectively celebrate the lives of those we’ve lost to this terrible virus,” Duggan said. “This is how we begin the healing process.”
Rochelle Riley, Director of Arts and Culture for the City, agreed.
“People are not seeing flag-draped coffins coming home from war or attending daily funerals,” she said in the release. “We need to see hearses. We need to see the mourning, so that everyone will understand that this is a pandemic that is stealing people away from us."
1,510 Detroiters have died after testing positive for the virus, according to the Detroit Health Department.
The memorial will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The island will be closed to the public on Monday. The public will be allowed to view the photos on Tuesday and Wednesday, before they are returned to the families.
The Detroit fireworks, a televised only event this year, will also take place on Monday.
Duggan said the fireworks will be shot off from a secret location at least 20 miles outside the city.
“ So, please enjoy them on TV, but don't come down looking for them here,” Duggan said.
Parade Company Executives said the display, themed “We Are All One Together,” will honor frontline workers and other Detroit heroes of the pandemic.
The 62nd annual display will air 8 to 10 pm on WDIV Channel-4.
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