Pledge to support 50% U.S.-based projects and 50% Canadian-based projects.
Brookfield, Wis. – Wooden casket manufacturer Victoriaville & Co. pledged $50,000 in support of the Funeral Service Foundation to invest in people and programs that strengthen funeral service in Canada and the United States over the next five years.
Alain Dumont, President of Victoriaville & Co (center) presents $50,000 ceremonial check at the Funeral Service Foundation Donor Reception with Chantelle Bilodeau-Seton of Eternity’s Touch (left) and Foundation Trustee Thomas Pontone of Matthews Aurora (right).
A fourth-generation family business employing hundreds of people in Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Victoriaville & Co. has become the third-largest manufacturer of wooden caskets in North America.
The visionary pledge is well-timed as the Foundation continues to grow its connections north of the U.S. border. In addition to the Foundation’s first Canadian Chair, Allan Cole, presiding from 2021-22, the Foundation has seen an increase in the percentage of applicants and winners in its professional development and academic scholarship programs.
Additionally, the Foundation continues to support programs in Canada like Humber College, which is conducting a resiliency training study in their funeral director program, provide outreach and resources in Canada, and send Foundation representatives to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Conference in Montreal in March and the Funeral Service Association of Canada Annual Conference in June 2023.
“Social responsibility is central to our values,” said Alain Dumont, president of Victoriaville & Co. “Contributing to the Funeral Service Foundation’s work in Canada and the United States is an investment in the wellbeing of our profession where we live and work. We are honored to add the Foundation to the list of organizations that we support.”
Foundation Executive Director Jedd Lapid shared his appreciation in return, “The Foundation looks forward to continuing the partnerships and outreach in Canada that our friends at Victoriaville & Co., Emeritus Trustee Allan Cole, and Trustee Todd Lumbard of Anthem have helped make possible. Building this extended network to strengthen funeral service is truly a gift, and we are grateful to Alain, Charles-Olivier, and the entire team at Victoriaville & Co.”
ABOUT VICTORIAVILLE & CO.
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.