Community support with 'coffee-on-the-go'
For those of us over the age of 45, I remember when my local McDonald’s got their first drive-thru window. My elderly, widowed neighbor Mrs. Clare Woodruff (Miss Woodie as kids always affectionately called her) thought it was fantastic to go with her pound pup named Saddie to get a fish sandwich and large fries for lunch every Friday at 11:45AM. You could set your watch by it.
It was the only way Saddie her favorite dog could join her for lunch. Saddie got some of the fries and enjoyed seeing all the people as they sat in the parking lot together. Miss Woodie enjoyed the outing and the attention she got from all people making over her pup as she ordered their lunch. She thought out of the box to meet her and Saddie’s social needs. Miss Woodie was creative in how she met new people and got support after her husband died.
I wonder what Miss Woodie would think of Bowman Funeral Home (http://www.bowmanfh.ca/) in Chatham Ontario offering free coffee on Wednesdays for morning commuters. My hunch is she would approve whole heartedly. Who knows… she might have gone with Saddie for a cup of Joe! You got to admit it’s a creative community outreach. I must also add a much needed outreach.
Serving coffee as positive exposure to a funeral home when death has not occurred is very helpful to those that have death and funeral home anxiety or apprehension. Death is scary, so if there are ways to help reduce that negative perception – then all the better. Besides who can really pass up a really GOOD cup of coffee in the morning even when served from a funeral home to-go site?
The way we express our grief is changing rapidly and creatively. This new 21st century grief expression calls for the funeral home industry to rethink its way of LIVING in the community. Funeral homes need to be more ‘user-friendly’ to use a computer-based term.
Families and various loved ones are seeking personalized ways to express their grief. They want to feel connected to each other and to the site of the funeral ritual. At the Michael Jackson memorial, it was stated that the selection of the memorial venue was directly associated with the fact that only days earlier Michael Jackson was rehearsing his upcoming tour there. The more the positive association with the funeral site by the deceased or by the community membership, the more personal attachment there can be – thus more comfort.
From the earliest of times we know that personalization of grief expression reduces the pain, fear and anxiety that is often associated with death and bereavement rituals. Funeral homes can be great places for that to happen if done correctly.
Funeral homes are now called upon in the 21st century to be places for LIVING instead of just a place for the viewing and funeral ritualizing of the dead. Creative service based funeral homes can help celebrate life as well as help those that grieve to cope with life without their loved one physically present.
Funeral homes that are creative and adaptable to new social trends are much more likely to help families of the 21st century begin to process their grief and loss in healthy ways and meet their everyday life experiences. Offering a cup of coffee on the way to work and school is a great way to begin the relationship process that can help carry a family through the dark days of death and bereavement at some other point later in their lives. It’s not a marketing ploy but a statement of support: ‘If you care enough to offer me a cup of coffee, you will also care for me and my loved one when they die”.
Funeral homes need to stop thinking of them selves as only a place that treats the dead for burial and begin to reflect on how they are a major part of helping the local community live life beyond the death of a significant other. This is the greatest gift a funeral home can offer.
Historically, funeral homes were established as a way to help the mourners have a comfortable place to conduct their funeral ritualization and visitation as well as help reduce the ever increasing death associated anxiety in Western Society. Now the funeral home is called upon again to help families who are grieving to find new meaningful ways of exploring their issues of dying, death and grief.
Offering a cup of coffee to the local community as they drive to work or school is a great method for this funeral home to reach out in a positive way to their community. It’s a lot more personal than just supplying calendars stacked on a shelf in the back of a church for someone to pick up after worship.
Providing grief support services and education is another great way to help those dealing with death related issues personally and professionally. How the funeral home does this will all depend on their local community and individual situation.
I encourage all funeral homes to think not just ‘outside the box’ for marketing purposes but also ‘outside the casket’ of not only death care services but also serving the living long before and after a funeral is necessary.
Miss Woodie thought outside of the box in creating new and friendly ways to meet her widowhood social needs decades ago. Now Bowman Funeral Home has not only thought outside the box but outside the casket to reach out to their local community in a creative and friendly way. Such creative thinking has supportively touched not only their local community but has also taught the world village the importance of support presence beyond the death event.
My hat goes off to Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham Ontario who demonstrates an excellent example of great community out reach. Funeral service is much more than just death service - it is community service to the living. Bowman Funeral Home -- Thank you.
Until our next visit together ~ Enjoy Life!
For those of us over the age of 45, I remember when my local McDonald’s got their first drive-thru window. My elderly, widowed neighbor Mrs. Clare Woodruff (Miss Woodie as kids always affectionately called her) thought it was fantastic to go with her pound pup named Saddie to get a fish sandwich and large fries for lunch every Friday at 11:45AM. You could set your watch by it.
It was the only way Saddie her favorite dog could join her for lunch. Saddie got some of the fries and enjoyed seeing all the people as they sat in the parking lot together. Miss Woodie enjoyed the outing and the attention she got from all people making over her pup as she ordered their lunch. She thought out of the box to meet her and Saddie’s social needs. Miss Woodie was creative in how she met new people and got support after her husband died.
I wonder what Miss Woodie would think of Bowman Funeral Home (http://www.bowmanfh.ca/) in Chatham Ontario offering free coffee on Wednesdays for morning commuters. My hunch is she would approve whole heartedly. Who knows… she might have gone with Saddie for a cup of Joe! You got to admit it’s a creative community outreach. I must also add a much needed outreach.
Serving coffee as positive exposure to a funeral home when death has not occurred is very helpful to those that have death and funeral home anxiety or apprehension. Death is scary, so if there are ways to help reduce that negative perception – then all the better. Besides who can really pass up a really GOOD cup of coffee in the morning even when served from a funeral home to-go site?
The way we express our grief is changing rapidly and creatively. This new 21st century grief expression calls for the funeral home industry to rethink its way of LIVING in the community. Funeral homes need to be more ‘user-friendly’ to use a computer-based term.
Families and various loved ones are seeking personalized ways to express their grief. They want to feel connected to each other and to the site of the funeral ritual. At the Michael Jackson memorial, it was stated that the selection of the memorial venue was directly associated with the fact that only days earlier Michael Jackson was rehearsing his upcoming tour there. The more the positive association with the funeral site by the deceased or by the community membership, the more personal attachment there can be – thus more comfort.
From the earliest of times we know that personalization of grief expression reduces the pain, fear and anxiety that is often associated with death and bereavement rituals. Funeral homes can be great places for that to happen if done correctly.
Funeral homes are now called upon in the 21st century to be places for LIVING instead of just a place for the viewing and funeral ritualizing of the dead. Creative service based funeral homes can help celebrate life as well as help those that grieve to cope with life without their loved one physically present.
Funeral homes that are creative and adaptable to new social trends are much more likely to help families of the 21st century begin to process their grief and loss in healthy ways and meet their everyday life experiences. Offering a cup of coffee on the way to work and school is a great way to begin the relationship process that can help carry a family through the dark days of death and bereavement at some other point later in their lives. It’s not a marketing ploy but a statement of support: ‘If you care enough to offer me a cup of coffee, you will also care for me and my loved one when they die”.
Funeral homes need to stop thinking of them selves as only a place that treats the dead for burial and begin to reflect on how they are a major part of helping the local community live life beyond the death of a significant other. This is the greatest gift a funeral home can offer.
Historically, funeral homes were established as a way to help the mourners have a comfortable place to conduct their funeral ritualization and visitation as well as help reduce the ever increasing death associated anxiety in Western Society. Now the funeral home is called upon again to help families who are grieving to find new meaningful ways of exploring their issues of dying, death and grief.
Offering a cup of coffee to the local community as they drive to work or school is a great method for this funeral home to reach out in a positive way to their community. It’s a lot more personal than just supplying calendars stacked on a shelf in the back of a church for someone to pick up after worship.
Providing grief support services and education is another great way to help those dealing with death related issues personally and professionally. How the funeral home does this will all depend on their local community and individual situation.
I encourage all funeral homes to think not just ‘outside the box’ for marketing purposes but also ‘outside the casket’ of not only death care services but also serving the living long before and after a funeral is necessary.
Miss Woodie thought outside of the box in creating new and friendly ways to meet her widowhood social needs decades ago. Now Bowman Funeral Home has not only thought outside the box but outside the casket to reach out to their local community in a creative and friendly way. Such creative thinking has supportively touched not only their local community but has also taught the world village the importance of support presence beyond the death event.
My hat goes off to Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham Ontario who demonstrates an excellent example of great community out reach. Funeral service is much more than just death service - it is community service to the living. Bowman Funeral Home -- Thank you.
Until our next visit together ~ Enjoy Life!
Doc T
Dr. Terrie Modesto, PhD, CPT, CAC
Chief Thanatologist and Learning Officer
TEAR CenterWebsite:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theresemodesto
Free coffee at funeral home drive-through
Published: July 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
CHATHAM, Ontario
2009, July 2 (UPI) -- A Canadian funeral home in southwestern Ontario is taking a community-friendly trend further by offering free coffee to commuters at a drive-through window.
For the next nine weeks between 7 and 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, drivers can pull up to the window at the Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham for a free cup, the London (Ontario) Free Press reported Thursday.
Published: July 2, 2009 at 11:57 AM
CHATHAM, Ontario
2009, July 2 (UPI) -- A Canadian funeral home in southwestern Ontario is taking a community-friendly trend further by offering free coffee to commuters at a drive-through window.
For the next nine weeks between 7 and 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, drivers can pull up to the window at the Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham for a free cup, the London (Ontario) Free Press reported Thursday.
Manager James MacNeil told the newspaper Wednesday's inaugural giveaway confused some commuters.
"They keep asking us what we are doing -- I just say 'no, really it is free coffee,'" he said. "We just want to reach out in a way that is not spooky or weird the way a funeral home can be."
Rick Ludwig, past-president of the Ontario Funeral Service Association, told the newspaper there is a growing trend of funeral homes becoming more active in communities in ways not associated with death.
Along those lines, MacNeil said his business is also a supporter of the Ontario Senior Games, which will be hosted by Chatham this year.
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/07/02/Free-coffee-at-funeral-home-drive-through/UPI-36151246550275/
Very good points about funeral home service.
ReplyDeleteAnd too funny about Miss Woodie, my mom did the same thing for a while as a newer widow--going to the drive thru for lunch with her dog, Emma.
Kim Carolan
http://walkingthroughthevalleyoftheshadow.blogspot.com
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have a question. I am working on a project on trends in funerals and trends in how the culture views death and grief. Can you suggest a few websites that might give me some reliable info?
Thanks very much,
Dick