There is little doubt that the failing economy has had its effect on families far and wide – meaning that many who have experienced the loss of loved one(s) find that they are cutting back on the funeral service and burial arrangements. A Washington Post article has drawn the attention of the public and the National Funeral Directors Association.
Feeling that the Post’s article was one sided and portrayed the news conference conducted by several funeral directors inaccurately, the NFDA issued a 
statement of clarification. The statement is reproduced below:
On March 31, NFDA held a press conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the association’s annual Advocacy Summit. The purpose of the press conference was to candidly convey to the media the results of an informal survey NFDA recently conducted about the impact of the present economic crisis on funeral consumers.
Unfortunately, an employee of the Washington Post chose to grossly misrepresent the statements and insights offered by several licensed practitioners serving as NFDA spokespersons via an article and an online video posted the following day. The video, in particular, was a pure fabrication that resorted to a cut-and-paste method of editing NFDA spokesperson responses and placing them in conjunction with questions not asked during the press conference. Also deliberately misstated and misleading is the implication that NFDA sought “bailout funds” from the federal government for practitioners. Clearly expressed during the press conference is that the association briefly discussed the idea internally about seeking additional federal funds to help indigent or unemployed consumers offset funeral and burial costs during the present economic crisis – another fact this employee chose to misrepresent.
It remains unclear if the views conveyed in both the article and video reflect the biased, ill-informed perception this employee holds about funeral service or if his intent was to offer some sort of ill-conceived “April Fool’s” joke that failed miserably.
Regardless, NFDA regrets that this individual blatantly chose to perform such a disservice to readers of the “Washington Post” by providing a slanted point of view, perpetuating stereotypes and resorting to broad-brush, hackneyed clichés instead of reporting the facts. NFDA General Counsel T. Scott Gilligan has contacted the Washington Post, expressed the facts and requested the immediate removal of the video.
NFDA encourages consumers and licensed professionals alike to read another article that resulted from the same press conference, which conveys an unbiased reflection of the statements and insights offered, at http://www.newsobserver.com/1573/story/1467535.html. More information about the present impact of the economy on funeral consumers is also available by calling the NFDA Public Relations Department at 800-228-6332.
The News and Observer’s report states the following:
Funeral directors are turning down their thermostats, doing their own laundry and not buying new hearses, according to a new National Funeral Directors Association survey.
The reason: Funeral home revenues are weakening as more consumers opt for cremations, cheaper caskets, shorter viewing periods and cheaper wakes. Also suffering are trusts and stock funds in which funeral homes invest money from clients who prepay for their funeral arrangements.
While is it important to fairly represent comments made at the meeting, one thing that seems to be glossed over is the very real loss of trust fund assets. Not only have funeral trust funds suffered losses as the economy has scaled back, but so have perpetual care trust funds used by cemeteries to provide maintenance.
Many states require certain minimum funding amounts for perpetual care trust funds. If a cemetery perpetual trust fund falls below the minimum established by law then the state would naturally require the organization to fund the deficit. Reports indicate that many firms, especially larger ones whose trust funds were invested more aggressively have lost massive amounts and may be facing a cash shortfall when make up funding is required.
Hopefully, we will soon see an economic turn around that will reduce the impact on families, firms and trust funds.
Posted by funeralnewsnow 
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