Anne Dunbar, co-owner of a funeral home in the Dayton suburb of Springfield, Ohio, reports that 15 to 20 families a year now ask that newspaper obituaries include a plea for contributions toward funeral expenses.
It’s not uncommon, in the US, for families to raise money for a funeral, and here’s a new way of doing just that.
It’s comparatively uncommon in reticent Britain — where, to be fair, funerals aren’t nearly as expensive.
We wonder if the everlasting recession will change that. More than that, we wonder why it’s hardly ever done at all. People ask ‘Is there anything I can do?’ customarily with a helpless shrug of the shoulders. Give them the opportunity to bung a few quid into a JustGiving-alike fund and I’m sure they’d be relieved, the more so if they knew that any surplus would go to a chosen charity.
People like to feel they’ve done their bit, that’s the point.
A good idea. In my experience, most people close to the deceased are willing to spend £30-50 or more on flowers or a charity donation. Why not instead help the next of kin to pay for the actual send off?
Hardship is a fact of life for many people these days. Certainly family members are indeed chipping in.
The number of times I’ve written to a bereaved friend, ‘if there’s anything I can do, please let me know’ – it’s such a frustrating, poor offer of help. £50 in an envelope, if that is what is needed, would be a huge relief for those trying to support the bereaved.