Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Sunset Finances Expresses Support for Funeral Donation Websites

On the heels of a Time article by Jacob Davidson, published September 23rd, 2013 entitled "Death 2.0: Crowdfunding Your Funeral," Sunset Finances promoted and commended websites such as FuneralFund.com and GracefulGoodbye.com for giving families of the deceased a tactful way to accept donations for pricey funeral and burial expenses.

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 24, 2013 

Today, Sunset Finances gave support and praise to recent websites that have surfaced which are designed to accept donations to assist with the costs of a burial or funeral. Sunset Finances’ promotion and backing comes shortly after the Time's article, "Death 2.0: Crowdfunding Your Funeral," was published (September 23rd), detailing the network of websites that has recently emerged to accept donations for funeral costs.

The Time article, written by Jacob Davidson, states that the average funeral services costs around $10,000 not including the burial services. Davidson states that to some, it might sound odd for families and loved ones to accept money to help pay for something as private as a death, but the fact of the matter is that memorial services  and a funeral expenses are often more than what families can comfortably afford, especially if on short notice and if the deceased did not have any money set aside specifically for the event.

Davidson lists websites such as GracefulGoodbye.com, FuneralFund.com, Donationto.com, and Giveforward.com as some places that families can go to in order to set up an account where other family and friends can donate money in lieu of flowers, or donating to a charity, to help ease the financial burden.


Monday, 16 September 2013

Crossrail Tunnel project uncovers ancient burial ground in London, including Bedlam Asylum patients

4,000 of London’s indigent and asylum inmates were uncovered in mass graves.
An Archaeologist for the London Rail Programme said today that thousands of bodies of London’s indigent population and asylum inmates have been uncovered during an archeological dig under London’s busiest streets.


Crossrail, Britain's largest construction project and archaeological dig in London, has been uncovering some very unusual artifacts ranging from pieces of a Roman road to solid gold Roman coins to a 2,000-year-old horseshoe. And now they have uncovered the ancient bones of Londoners, who passed away centuries ago, in what appears to be a mass grave.

Some of the archaeologists' most delicate and time consuming work involves removing and preserving the remains from the Bedlam burial ground, established in the 16th century underneath where Liverpool Street Station now stands. This latest finding is the second unearthing of skeletal bones in less than a year.

Thousands of Londoners were commonly buried in the grounds for a period of about 150 years. The decedents were mostly the indigent who could not afford proper funeral services. Others buried here were religious non-conformists and patients from the adjacent Bedlam Hospital, the world's first psychiatric asylum. Its’ name, a corruption of the word Bethlehem, became a synonym for chaos.

Second dig to uncover mass graves

Crossrail's lead Archaeologist, Jay Carver, said the project would eventually involve disinterring the remains of about over 4,000 people, a laborious task. 


"This site is a rare, perhaps unprecedented opportunity," said Nick Elsden from the Museum of London.Earlier this year, the dig unearthed skeletons belonging to victims of the Black Death, the plague that wiped out half of London's population in 1348.Uncovering these skeletons gives us a rare glimpse into the lives of Londoners and their burial customs dating back thousands of years.


Friday, 16 August 2013

What to say when someone is grieving?

It is very saddening to see your relative or your friend grieving for losing a loved one. They might face many kinds of difficulties while dealing with this situation. In order to console them and bring back to usual life, we need to use the rights words at the right time. We have crafted a list of things to say and things to avoid. Let’s have a look at them.

Things to say

Words have the strength to empower positive attitude in a person. You can use all these sentences to console your friend or relative who have lost their loved one. 

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

One of the most common mistakes we make is to sympathize a person. Instead, we should choose to empathize a person and let them know that you are sorry for their loss. It will assure comfort them and will let them know that you genuinely care for them. 

Go ahead and cry. It's okay. I'm here.

Strong people have the capability to shed tears. You should allow your friends to flow out all their emotions and let them cleanse their heart by crying. So you can express this with the help of the above-mentioned statement. 

I’m here for you anytime.

All friends and relatives stay at good times, but what matters the most is the friend or relatives who are always present to help them at bad times. They might require help in arranging the funeral services, memorial services, completing legal formalities, etc. So do let them know that you are with them and you can help them as well.

Things not to say

Some words have the strength to discomfort a person. You should avoid them. Let’s see some of these lines.

How he/she died?

Losing a loved one can disheartened us and remembering the incident again can add fuel to the fire. So we advise you to avoid this question.

Never say “I know how you feel.”

Every person travels a different journey of life. They might not react the same way we react to a situation. So telling them that you know how he/she feels will not do any justice. Instead, you can use the magic of words and comfort them.

Final word

After consoling them with words, we recommend you to spend some time with them and make them feel comfortable with their life.

Monday, 12 August 2013

How to raise funds for a funeral and manage the legal formalities?


The death of a family member can scatter us emotionally, but we need to pick up ourselves and be strong enough to arrange their funeral. We need to send them off forever. Managing the legal formalities and arranging a funeral smoothly is a difficult task.  In order to ease this task, we have provided some tips on how to raise funds and some activities to manage the legal formalities. Let’s have a look at them.
 
Legal formalities
Seek help from your family members and friends to manage the legal formalities. All the major money related activities like claiming insurance and remitting money from bank accounts require some form of legal proof. This makes legal formalities very essential for the bright future of the family members.

You should notify the authorities about the sudden loss of your loved one and collect all the required documents like a birth certificate, proof of citizenship, drivers license and marriage certificate. After gathering these documents, you can get the application for a death certificate. The registrars’ office will also provide you with a Certificate for Burial or Cremation. Only after getting this certificate, you can start the funeral process.

You should also gather the funeral pre-plan documents, bank records, property deeds, vehicle owner records, tax return documents and keep them handy. Once you collect these documents, you need to contact the solicitor and ask him to read the will of your loved one. He can also assist you in executing the legal formalities.

How to raise money for a funeral?
An average funeral may cost up to $10,000. Many people may not have money available. So it is important to get funds for arranging a funeral. The following methods will help you raise money for funeral services.

Requesting donations from the church
The Lord is always there to provide a light of hope during our darker times.  To receive his blessings, we need to visit a church and inform the pastor about the sudden loss of your loved ones. They will not only pray for the soul of your loved one, but may also help you financially by providing some funds.

Unleash the power of crowdfunding websites
There are over 1.2 million internet companies around the world. They provide funds for charity and funerals through various crowdfunding websites like funeralfund.com.  The advantage of using these websites is that you get funds from various sources in a short span of time. You can use these websites and raise funds for and memorial services. 

To start a fund raising campaign, the funding team requires an email address, social media accounts and PayPal account. Once you have these accounts handy, you can visit these websites, create a user account, start a campaign and spread the word through your social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

These websites also spread the word to various sources and attract funders to your campaign. So use them appropriately to get sufficient funds for a funeral.
 
Final word
You can use the above techniques and finish all your legal formalities. You can also use the donations collected from the church and funds raised by a crowdfunding website for donating money to the families in need. This will not only pay tribute to your loved one, but also help other people. 

The memories of your loved one are always alive within us. We recommend that you conduct a life appreciation ceremony. This will also comfort the family members and the friends of your loved ones.