Member Spotlight What growing trends have you noticed in the funeral service industry? In what ways have you tried to keep up with these changes? Society in general has gone more digital in the way we communicate with each other and businesses. We’ve kept up with the times through Facebook, Docusign, Zoom, Tukios and other available outlets in order to ease the family from additional burdens and stress. How has your funeral home pivoted to serve families during the COVID-19 pandemic? Like most funeral homes currently, we’ve had to shift the way we operate. Most interaction with the families we serve are now done remotely by phone, email, and/ or Zoom. One of the challenges we have to face is the limit of guests / family members allowed in the funeral home is only 10 people. So we created another option for families to be able to pay their respects to the deceased by offering a drive-by viewing window, which was specially designed and created by one our employees and allows cars to freely drive up to the casket and family behind the glass. This allows family and friends, no matter the number, to be able to say goodbye to the deceased and a way to show support to the family all while social distancing themselves. What do you value most about OGR? Why did you become a member? I love the close knit aspect of the members and their support of each other. When you attend the events, you’re able to network and share ideas with the group. Offering new ideas and a fresh perspective to concerns you might be dealing with back at your own funeral home. Is there anything in particular that you do at work to keep your spirits high or the spirits of your staff high? We try to keep a healthy and positive work environment for the staff. You don’t want to burn them out especially during these stressful times, so they get time off, are provided free lunch and other employee perks, and are able to interact with management freely. What are three future goals you have in mind for your funeral home? Being able to transition from our current State and Local restrictions of COVID-19 to a less restrictive situation www.ogr.org | The Independent® 35
36 Publizr Home