We Stand Ready
The Funeral Service Foundation stands ready to support communities in crisis. We are prepared to launch our Crisis Response Fund within hours of an emergent situation. Upon Executive Committee approval, the Fund offers a fundraising platform designated to the crisis and allows for the rapid deployment of resources and support.
History
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, and offered support following other natural disasters and emergent situations.
COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund
In 2020, the Crisis Response Fund was deployed as the COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund. Thanks to $100,000 and $50,000 lead gifts from Homesteaders Life Company and NFDA respectively, and gifts of all levels from across the profession, we awarded more than $500,000 in grants and support.
The urgently needed funding sent swift volunteer relief to areas hard-hit by COVID-19; helped purchase more than 50,000 masks and allowed the Foundation to award 17 grants to grief-focused organizations in the U.S. and Canada.
Covid-19 Crisis Response Fund Grant Recipients
Crisis Relief Resources
The COVID-19 Crisis Response Funds also allowed for the creation and distribution of a free community resource titled Grieving Alone & Together written by Dr. Sara Murphy and created in partnership with the National Funeral Directors Association and RemberingALife.com
As the pandemic raged into the second half of 2020 and burnout and fatigue set in with funeral directors, the funds from the Crisis Fund, in part, allowed the Foundation to commission and create a self-care handbook titled Caring for Families & Caring for Yourself written by Dr. Alan Wolfelt, which focuses on the specific needs and experiences of funeral directors.
Both of these resources are available free of charge, simply pay shipping.
The Foundation’s relief efforts carry on into 2021. We stand at the ready to answer the profession’s call for assistance, just as funeral directors and allied professionals answered our call to give.
Other Grant Opportunities
GRANT APPLICATIONS
The Foundation is not currently granting from the COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund. We encourage eligible organizations to request funds through our standard granting channels.
Please note: The costs associated with burials, memorialization, cremations, etc. are not eligible for funding.
“ Supporting the Foundation is at the very heart of what we mean to be a good, human society to love and care for one another.
The Foundation’s grant helped Black pastors have a broader scope as trust agents in their communities and helped us do the job we needed to do…teaching us how to be socially distanced and socially caring at the same time. Having a partner help us do that was really important.”
– Rev. Floyd Thompkins, CEO, Foundation for Justice and Peace, Vashon, WA