Funeral Service Foundation and Homesteaders Life Company Announce Major Gifts in Response to Iowa Flooding, Request Others to Join in Support
Brookfield, Wis. – In response to the recent, devastating floods affecting Northern and Northwestern Iowa, the Funeral Service Foundation and Homesteaders Life Company have pledged a combined $20,000 to the Iowa Funeral Directors Association’s Flood Relief Fund.
“The Northwest Iowa flood managed to take away more than anyone could have imagined, catastrophizing Spencer, and severely damaging several other communities,” said Danielle Knapp, CEO of the Iowa Funeral Directors Association (IFDA). “Currently, we know that we have a few members who have lost either their funeral home or personal home as well as vehicles and belongings. It is our hope that they can rebuild and be even stronger, but we know it will take months, probably even years to recover. Contributions like this help to make that happen. So, on behalf of IFDA and our members, I am thankful for the Foundation’s and Homesteader’s generosity and support.”
Homesteaders Life Company, a preneed insurance company based in West Des Moines, Iowa, has joined the Foundation in pledging $10,000 to support the rebuilding effort. “Funeral providers are often the first to raise their hands when communities are in need,” said Steve Shaffer, Homesteaders President, CEO and Board Chair. “They do so much to enrich the lives of the families they serve. It is an honor and a privilege to do for them what so many funeral providers have and continue to do for their communities.”
Additionally, the Funeral Service Foundation’s Grants Committee has approved a $10,000 grant from the Foundation’s Crisis Response and Discretionary Funds. “The Foundation’s Crisis Response Fund was endowed last year after the Maui wildfires, with the generous contributions from individuals and corporate partners for this very purpose, to provide immediate support for funeral service,” said Mark Krause, the Foundation’s Board Chair. “We know that these grants help, but we need others to join in support. On behalf of the IFDA, Homesteaders and the Funeral Service Foundation, we encourage our community in funeral service to join us by making a gift today.”
Donate Now:
To support the Iowa Funeral Directors Association – Flood Relief Fund, please send a tax-deductible donation to:
Iowa Funeral Directors Association, 6909 Vista Drive, West Des Moines, Iowa 50266 (Memo: Flood Relief)
To contact the Iowa Funeral Directors Association please call: 515-270-0130
Online donations can also be made to the Funeral Service Foundation’s Crisis Response Fund – Iowa Flood Relief page at: https://www.funeralservicefoundation.org/crisis-response-fund-iowa/.
About the Crisis Response Fund
ABOUT THE Homesteaders Life Company
Founded in 1907 and committed exclusively to the funeral profession since 1948, Victoriaville & Co. is a fourth-generation family business that has become the third-largest manufacturer of hardwood caskets in North America and one of the most important distributors of funeral and commemorative products.
ABOUT THE FUNERAL SERVICE FOUNDATION
Since 1945, the Funeral Service Foundation has served as the philanthropic voice of the funeral profession and has been identified as the charitable arm of the National Funeral Directors Association since 1997. Donors and volunteer leaders’ profession-wide support the Foundation’s mission to lift grieving communities by investing in people and programs that strengthen funeral service.