ST. CLOUD -- The 4th annual Memorial Butterfly Release was held on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud.

Hundreds of people came out to remember loved ones they have lost by releasing a butterfly -- a symbol of hope -- into the garden.

"Butterflies are that symbol of hope that's always been," says Cathy Snyder of Quiet Oaks Hospice who put on the event.

Quiet Oaks Hospice Home, located between St. Cloud and St. Augusta, has held this event for four years -- the past two at Munsinger Gardens.

Snyder began volunteering at Quiet Oaks after seeing firsthand what hospice care does for families after her father passed away while in hospice.

"Quiet Oaks is that place people come to have their last days, but then their loved ones are left," Snyder says. "There are so many [reminders] of that grief and that emptiness, but there's also hope."

Those who came out to the event were able to buy a butterfly to release in honor of their lost loved ones with the proceeds going to Quiet Oaks Hospice.

Photo by Isaac Schweer, WJON
Photo by Isaac Schweer, WJON
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