Giving Memorial Donations

In obituaries created as part of the cremation services offered in Dayton, OH, it’s not uncommon for the family of a loved one who has died to ask for contributions to a charity or organization, which was supported by or that helped the deceased, in the place of funeral flowers.

While some people like the tradition of sending plants and flowers to grieving families as a gesture of sympathy and comfort, and they will do that regardless of what the obituary asks for as ways to honor the memory of the deceased, it at least bears consideration to do what the family has asked for.

Flowers die eventually. Plants require maintenance and care to thrive and survive. But memorial donations can often live on and pay forward in a way that we might not think about.

For example, if families ask for contributions to an organization devoted to facilitating organ donations, we need to realize that this may be a very personal request that has been generated because their loved one who has died was either an organ recipient or an organ donor. If the deceased was an organ recipient, then they may have lived a few extra years and had a little more time with their family because of the organ transplant they received. If their loved one was an organ donor, then several lives may have been improved or saved because they donated their organs.

Other examples might be making memorial donations to the hospice care organization that provided end-of-life care for the deceased or making memorial donations to a non-profit organization that refurbishes hearing aids and distributes them around the world at no charge to give the gift of hearing to people who otherwise would not be able to have it.

There is most often a pay-it-forward mindset behind requests for memorial donations in lieu of flowers. Go to the website (or find the organization online) provided in the obituary and find out what the organization does. This may give you some insight into why the grieving family chose this particular organization for memorial donations.

Sometimes, we tend to forget that there are often very specific reasons why bereaved families make requests to support charities or other non-profit organizations, and by disregarding those requests to do what we want to do is, in a sense, not honoring the heartfelt wishes of the family.

However, if you do make memorial donations in honor of the memory of someone who has died, it is often a quite easy process. You can simply go the website of the organization and use your credit card to make a donation in memory of the person who has died. The family will receive a notice of your donation – for which they will be thankful – and the organization will send you a thank-you for your donation as well. Almost all charitable and non-profit donations are tax-deductible (if you itemize your tax return).

If you want to send flowers or a plant to the bereaved family and make a memorial donation to the charity they request them for, that is perfectly acceptable. And, if the obituary does not mention charitable donations, you can still send flowers to the funeral home and make a memorial donation to a charitable or non-profit organization of your choice in honor of the memory of the person who has died.

For more information about cremation services offered in Dayton, OH, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Glickler Funeral Home & Cremation Service is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 1849 Salem Ave., Dayton, OH 45406, or you can call us today at (937) 278-4287.