West Des Moines, Iowa — Homesteaders Life Company, a national leader in preneed funeral funding, is joining the recently-announced fundraising effort by the Funeral Service Foundation to provide much-needed emergency assistance and grief support to funeral providers and families impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Homesteaders has committed up to $100,000 in matching funds for the Foundation’s Covid-19 Crisis Response Fund, which will help funeral service professionals and organizations in communities that are disproportionately impacted by this global health crisis.
“The Foundation’s Board of Trustees launched this fund with the understanding that funeral service is already responding to the crisis in a big way and will need tremendous support to continue to do so effectively,” said Foundation Chair Anthony Guerra of Guerra & Gutierrez Mortuaries in Los Angeles. “Homesteaders has been a huge supporter of the Foundation for years, and this matching donation is a significant boost for our Covid-19 Crisis Response Fund. We hope this inspires funeral directors everywhere to give what they can, so our profession can rise to the unprecedented loss of life resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic.”
Judy Ralston-Hansen, Homesteaders Executive VP-Human Resources, says Homesteaders is “all in” in support of this effort. “We are happy to provide funding to amplify the generous giving we know funeral professionals across the country will offer to this critically important campaign.”
The fund will provide grants for immediate needs within funeral service including emergency response to significant loss of life; grants to organizations providing services and resources to families with unresolved and complicated grief due to loss during this crisis; and grants for other important needs as funeral providers continue to serve families during this rapidly evolving crisis.*
“We’re hearing firsthand about the efforts funeral directors are making to prepare and serve during this rapidly evolving crisis,” said Kim Medici Shelquist, Homesteaders Senior VP-Planning and Development and Foundation Board Trustee. “Homesteaders is pleased to support the Foundation while helping raise money to support funeral providers and families across the U.S. as they navigate this national emergency.”
Homesteaders and the Foundation are counting on the funeral service community to respond generously and help at this unprecedented time of need and uncertainty. One-time or monthly gifts to the Funeral Service Foundation’s Covid-19 Crisis Response Fund can be made online at funeralservicefoundation.org. Those interested in supporting the fund may also send checks, made payable to the Funeral Service Foundation, to the FSF Covid-19 Crisis Response Fund, 13625 Bishop’s Drive, Brookfield, WI 53005, or donate over the phone by calling 262-814-1549.
Homesteaders Life Company, a mutual company owned by its policy holders, is a national leader providing products and services to promote and support the funding of advance funeral planning and end-of-life expenses.
The Funeral Service Foundation has since 1945 served as the profession’s philanthropic voice. As the charitable arm of the National Funeral Directors Association since 1997, the Foundation receives operational support from NFDA and donors across the profession to help advance its mission to support funeral service in building meaningful relationships with the families and the communities it serves. Visit funeralservicefoundation.org to learn more.
