2020 - June - CDT - Helping Hands - Because Love Can't Wait

By: Dar Bellissimo
Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Because LOVE Can't Wait

When I ask people about the losses they’ve experienced during the pandemic, without fail they describe the pain of losing in-person connections. Just a few months ago, we took those connections for granted. Now we long for them. And when we lose a loved one, we long even more. Thankfully, with creativity, smaller groups, masks, social distancing and modern technology, we can still safely connect with one another after a death.

The “Because LOVE Can’t Wait” program at Koch Funeral Home offers safe connections for those who are grieving. For supervisor and funeral director F. Glenn Fleming, one part of caring for families is about helping them begin their lives without loved ones in healthy and healing ways. This hasn’t changed during the pandemic. Families can still create unique, one-of-a-kind services and gatherings.

As the name implies, LOVE can’t wait. When a death occurs, loved ones naturally want to come together to share stories and support one another – they want to give and receive LOVE. With the “Because LOVE Can’t Wait” program, families can choose from the online and in-person options listed below. Please note that all in-person options must adhere to the current Pennsylvania government guidelines of mask-wearing, social distancing and limits of 25 people.

  • Online Tribute Wall –Through the online obituary page, families can upload pictures and share stories and memories through condolences.
  • Tribute Video – Families can pick an appropriate theme, upload photos, videos and music and add images and comments.
  • Visitation – Families can have an In-Person Visitation, a Drive-Through Visitation under the porte cochere or a Virtual Visitation with group visits in break-out rooms.
  • Funeral or Memorial Service – Families can have an In-Person Service while providing remote attendance for others or a Virtual Remembrance Circle with a time of remembering, sharing stories and honoring the deceased.
  • Graveside Service – Families can have an In-Person Burial Service.
  • TribuCast™ Live Stream and Website Portal – Families can have a private web page personalized with uploaded pictures, the obituary, service information and a guest book for sharing condolences and memories. This website will also provide remote, real-time service attendance through webcasting and hold the service recording for 90 days.

In addition to the above program, we have moved our educational and support gatherings online for now:

For more information about all of these programs, visit the Koch Funeral Home website, Bereavement Gatherings and Events section under the Local Resources tab. All of these events are open to the public and space is limited.

Jackie Hook, MA, is a spiritual director, celebrant and end-of-life doula.  She coordinates the Helping Grieving Hearts Heal program through Koch Funeral Home in State College.  For more information, please call 814-237-2712 or visit www.kochfuneralhome.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment
Name*:
Email:
Comment*:
Please enter the numbers and letters you see in the image. Note that the case of the letters entered matters.

Comments

Please wait

Previous Posts

2023 - November - Gazette - Dare! Silence

A lot goes on in the silence.” These are words I often share because silence is a big part of my work. For example, I ask for moments of silence when officiating at memorial and funeral services. D...

2023 - Nov - CDT - Helping Hands - Healing Through the Holidays

Healing through the Holidays Author, poet, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou, wrote, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I witness this every day in my work ...

2023 - October - Gazette - Memories Become Treasures

Memories Become Treasures I was visiting with my mom and dad a couple of weeks ago and we started talking about my dad’s parents, who I lovingly called Grandma and Grandad. My mom shared two memor...

2023 - September - Centered - Arriving Where I Started

I love the T.S. Eliot quote, from “Little Gidding,” Four Quartets: “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for t...

2023 - September - Gazette - Existing Elsewhere

A few years ago I sat with a handful of adults’s in a grief gathering and listened as one mother shared her story. She told us about the moments before and after her young child’s unexpected and su...

2023 - September - Town & Gown - End-of-Life Doulas, Graveside Journaling, and Sponsoring Memorials from Afar

We hope you read the September Town & Gown article by Holly Riddle featuring End-of-Life Doula Jackie Naginey Hook. 

2023 - August - Gazette - Surrender Your Soul

Surrender Your Soul A couple of weeks ago, I stepped onto the deck of our cabin at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. It was early morning and the sun had just risen from behind...

2023 - August - CDT - Helping Hands - Bereavement Gatherings and Events

Bereavement Gatherings & Events Anne Frank wrote, “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside. . . I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles...

2023 - July - CDT - Helping Hands - "Helping" Someone Who is Grieving

“Helping” Someone Who is Grieving I answered the phone and could tell the caller was unsettled. A relationship and job possibility had both ended for him. Grief had come for a visit, but I didn’t ...

2023 - July - CDT - Learning to Live: What's Your Story?

“Helping” Someone Who is Grieving I answered the phone and could tell the caller was unsettled. A relationship and job possibility had both ended for him. Grief had come for a visit, but I didn’t ...