Tree of Hope Moves to Cathedral

City Hall's loss is Grace Cathedral's gain.

Rainbow World Fund's Tree of Hope, an annual holiday display promoting global unity, will be installed at Grace Cathedral next week, after the nonprofit agency was told it would have to pay $15,000 to have the tree in San Francisco City Hall.

The tree has been displayed in City Hall for the past eight years.

But a communications snafu left the San Francisco-based LGBT humanitarian agency scrambling to find an alternative site and City Hall looking for a Christmas tree for inside the Beaux Arts building.

"It was a bit of a misunderstanding," city Administrator Naomi Kelly told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview November 20. "We're working through to make sure we get it back next year.

"I'd love to have the tree back next year," she added.

At issue, according to Kelly, was $15,000 to cover security and overtime costs by the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, which provides security in City Hall and has deputies on hand whenever the building is open.

Senior Sheriff's Deputy Enrique Luquin said he wasn't aware of the security cost for the tree.

"We haven't given anybody any estimates," he told the B.A.R. "We never quoted that amount."

Jeff Cotter, the executive director of RWF, was disappointed that the tree won't be in City Hall this year, but praised Grace Cathedral for its wonderful space. The tree lighting will take place on World AIDS Day, Monday, December 1, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

"We are not able to have the tree at City Hall this year due to policy changes that made it cost prohibitive for us," Cotter said in an email.

The Rainbow World Fund Tree of Hope, as it is formally called, is unique in that it is decorated with thousands of origami cranes and stars that contain messages for peace and the future of the world. RWF is an LGBT-led humanitarian group that partners with other agencies to provide financial relief during natural disasters and other services. It has donated over $4.1 million in humanitarian aid over the years.

The tree gets its inspiration from the story of Sadako Sasaki, who contracted leukemia 10 years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. While in the hospital, a friend told her about a Japanese legend that the folder of a thousand paper cranes would be granted one wish. Sasaki started folding, but died 356 cranes short of her goal. Her classmates folded the rest and all 1,000 cranes were buried with her.

Cotter said that Grace Cathedral welcomed the opportunity to host the tree.

"They are very supportive of the tree's purpose as a symbol of global unity and hope and of Rainbow World Fund's philosophy that we are all one human family," Cotter said. "They also loved the idea of working with an LGBT international organization that is dedicated to serving humanity."

The Reverend Lesley Hay, acting vice dean and canon of operations at Grace Cathedral, said the Episcopal church was honored to host the RWF Tree of Hope.

"Grace Cathedral has always been a landmark institution in the Bay Area and we're known for our support of the LGBT community," Hay said in a brief interview. "Rainbow World Fund was seeking a new venue and we said 'yes.'"

Hay added that the tree is now erected and that next week's lighting ceremony coincides with the one that will take place at Huntington Park, across the street from the church.

Kelly said the city typically waives the $10,000 City Hall rental fee for the tree, but that her office didn't have control over security fees. She said that Rainbow World Fund had not been charged in the past.

As for City Hall's Christmas tree, Kelly said one would be unveiled December 4. It is being decorated by public school students and provided by the Guardsmen, a group that sells Christmas trees to help support its work with at-risk youth.

For the RWF Tree of Hope lighting ceremony at Grace Cathedral, Mayor Ed Lee is expected to attend, along with the Consul General of Japan, Masato Watanabe; the Rt. Reverend Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California; longtime LGBT and human rights activist Cleve Jones; the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; and ABC's Cheryl Jennings, who will serve as emcee. The San Francisco Boys Chorus will perform, as will Veronica Klaus and pianist Tammy Hall.

The event is free and open to the public.

Grace Cathedral is located at 1100 California Street. People are welcome to submit a wish for the RWF Tree of Hope and can do so by visiting www.rainbowfund.org/tree