Funding Priorities
The funds, designed to be flexible, will provide support for immediate needs within funeral service including volunteer support; grants to organizations providing services and resources to families directly impacted by this crisis; and funds for other important needs as funeral providers continue to serve grieving families.
“The Foundation’s Board of Trustees devoted these funds to assist those who are doing the difficult work of carrying forward a devastated community,” said Foundation Chair Allan Cole. “The way the funeral service profession mobilizes to support fellow professionals working tirelessly in the wake of tragedy is truly awe-inspiring. Our hope is that these funds will make that important work more manageable.”
How to Support the Crisis Response Fund
The Funeral Service Foundation, together with The Messenger Co., are accepting donations in support of the Foundation’s Crisis Response Fund, which offers urgently needed funding in the wake of regional, national or international crises, such as the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
Now through June 15, The Messenger Co. will match up to $10,000 in Crisis Response Fund Support. (The company’s original $10,000 matching gift was in support of the Foundation’s annual spring appeal.)
“The Foundation stands ready to support communities in crisis,” said Cole. “And we’re honoured that our friends at Messenger have designated up to $10,000 in matching gift support for the Foundation’s Crisis Response Fund.”
“The profession can count on the Funeral Service Foundation to respond to the profession’s needs in times of crisis,” said Heather Garman, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Messenger Co. “And the Foundation can count on Messenger to help where it’s needed most. We hope the funeral service community responds generously so we can ensure that funeral service professionals—and all those who serve grieving families and communities—are equipped with the resources and support they need when the unimaginable occurs.”
About the Crisis Response Fund
Borne from funeral professionals’ requests to support relief efforts following the devastating tsunami in 2004, the Crisis Response Fund offers urgently needed funding in the wake of regional, national, or international crises. The Foundation funded the Hurricane Katrina Memorial in 2010, offered support following other natural disasters and emergent situations, and most recently, awarded more than $500,000 in Covid-19 relief grants and support through the Crisis Response Fund.
Gifts to the Funeral Service Foundation’s Crisis Response Fund can be made online at FuneralServiceFoundation.org. Those interested in supporting may also send checks, made payable to the Funeral Service Foundation to the FSF Crisis Response Fund, 13625 Bishop’s Drive, Brookfield, WI 53005, or call 1-877-402-5900 to make a gift by phone.