Choosing The Right Funeral Home

Creative Ways To Honor Your Loved One Through Charitable Giving At A Funeral

4 October 2016

Derek Murphy

Some people prefer to have donations made to favorite charities in lieu of flowers for their funerals, but there are many other ways you can encourage charitable giving at your loved one's funeral. Use this guide to come up with creative ways you and the attendees at your relative's funeral can do good for the community.

Portable Food Pantry Work with your funeral home director to create a donation area for nonperishable goods, and encourage everyone attending the funeral to bring a set number of items to donate to the food drive. You can even assign certain types of foods for guests to bring, such as having aunts and uncles bring canned soup while cousins bring boxed cereal. The goal should be to come up with a variety of items your local food pantry can use to stock its shelves. Be sure to include information about what types of donations are encouraged in your loved one's obituary, so even people stopping by to sign the guest book can contribute.

Winter Clothing Drive Ask that people attending the funeral or wake bring at least one item of winter clothing, such as a hat, scarf, coat, or snow boots. The items should be new with the tags still on, as you don't want anyone to use the funeral as a way to clean out their closets. Ask your funeral director to set aside a space where you can hang rolling garment racks, and have the items placed on the racks as people enter the funeral home. Once the services are over, arrange to have the clothing donated to a local homeless shelter.

Soup Kitchen Funeral Luncheon Instead of gathering with close friends and family for the funeral luncheon, consider using the meal as an opportunity to feed those in need. You can partner with your local church to set up a luncheon in its soup kitchen, and invite anyone in need to join your family for lunch. You can make this idea even more special by having the meal catered and using servers to give everyone the feeling of being waited on throughout the meal.

Combine this idea with your portable food pantry, and pass out bags of nonperishable foods to those joining you at the luncheon so they can enjoy meals for the rest of the day or week.. Funerals are about honoring the memory of the person you lost, so giving to those in need can be a wonderful way to remember your loved one. Work with your funeral home director to create a charitable giving option to give back to the community while sharing the love you have for your relative.

For more information, contact local professionals like Linnemann Funeral Homes.

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