Is this How we Want Funerals Paid For?

Over the last couple of days I have seen various media reports about the 11 year old in Illinois who has been given a short time to live following the unsuccessful treatment of an aggressive brain tumor.  The reports also go on to tell of the young lady’s sister, who is 15 years old, organizing a yard sale and Go Fund Me page to raise money for the eventual funeral expenses.  I saw it latest in AccessAtlanta.

The 15 – year old has said, “I just want her to have a beautiful funeral and a beautiful burial, so that she can be laid in peace.”  The love and compassion of that sister is there — and she should be commended for it — I certainly don’t see any selfishness at all in her ideals.

News reports also state that others in the area have donated items to the sale and that a Go Fund Me page was set up with a $15,000 goal and had succeeded that goal garnering a total of $18,300 at the time of this writing.

Again, I find nothing wrong with this from the family’s and the sister’s perspective.  They have fought a battle with mortality and seem to be losing that.  They know that they will have financial obligations of a funeral to come and want to be prepared to be able to provide what they want, for a loving daughter and sister, when that day eventually comes.

Funeral Director Daily take:  My thought process is, “How are funeral directors and funeral homes perceived when the headline talks about selling their possessions to pay for a sibling funeral?”  Are we seen as high priced, greedy, having no compassion, and on and on?

Because, if we are, nothing could be farther from the truth about funeral directors.  Most are absolutely compassionate and would do anything to help out in their community.  Most contribute to virtually every cause — from high school band trips to the Senior Citizen Talent contest.

However, I’m guessing that these unfortunate situations that happen and stir up these emotional headlines don’t do the funeral service profession any good.  Battling these perceptions are just another thing a funeral director and funeral business need to do to stay in the good graces of the community.  That is why it is so important that you are there when needed, you do community volunteer work, and you contribute to the good of the community.  Then, when these type of headlines hit, your community knows better and knows it is not a bad apple funeral director who is causing the problems — it is just the situation in general.[wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]

 

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