Virginia Funeral Directors Association

VFDA HOME OFFICE:

1011 East Main Street, Ste 400

Richmond, VA 23219

Phone: 804-264-0505

Fax: 804-264-3260

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Media / Press Releases

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Press Releases

Medical Examiner Policy for Proper Cremation or Burial at Sea Certification

ABM Funding, Inc. opens in Martinsville, Virginia

The Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers Welcomes New Executive Director

February 29, 2008

Train Your Managers On the Basics of Employment Laws: A Priority in 2008

Homesteaders' Virginia Account Executive Honored for 2007 Achievement

Funeral Service in the Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 8/2/07

Re: Phone Scams

The Virginia Funeral Directors Association office has received a high number of calls this week from members pertaining to phone and email scams. The calls are coming from TTY/TTD operators (phone calls for the deaf) and they are requesting information on price list of caskets, and getting bodies shipped back to the United States from countries such as Nigeria and Siberia. The callers may also ask that you wire money to an account so that the body can be shipped back. It is advised that you do not wire money to the caller. We are in contact with the Virginia Attorney Generals Office regarding this matter. If you begin to receive these calls please get as much information from the caller as possible, and please report the calls to the VFDA office at 804-264-0505 or spinner@vfda.net.

Sincerely,

Samantha L. Pinner

Director of Membership Services

Virginia Funeral Directors Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/23/07

Brandon Woody, 18, wins national education award. BRONZE MEDAL June 30 at the SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Kansas City, Mo., by demonstrating how funeral-home workers repair disfigurement and injury from death.

Click Here for Article

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 7/23/07

FUNERAL SERVICES PROGRAM LAUNCHES AT TCC

Will help meet need for licensed professionals in the region

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – (July 19, 2007) – What do classes in Psychology of Death and Dying, Restorative Art, Principles of Accounting, Survey of Chemistry, and Funeral Service Law have in common?

At Tidewater Community College those courses and more in a new degree program prepare professionals for leadership in the funeral services industry. Graduates of TCC's funeral service program will leave with the tools necessary for successful careers as funeral service professionals.

"With only one other program in the state and one near D.C., TCC's new program will address our region's need for funeral home professionals," says Michael Summers, vice president for academic and student affairs. Hampton Roads economic development data show projected openings for funeral service workers up 22 percent through 2011, with 82 positions over the next five years. In 2006, 1,507 openings were reported statewide with a 24 percent growth projected for 2011.

The Hampton Roads' funeral services industry strongly supports the program at TCC, as does the Virginia Board of Funeral Directors.

Elizabeth Young, executive director, Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers, welcomes TCC's program, saying, "This provides a low-cost, accredited opportunity for citizens of the Commonwealth to pursue the field of funeral service." Noting an increase in funeral service businesses and a critical shortage of licensees to run them, she adds, "The General Assembly enacted a waiver provision in 1996 to allow two establishments to share a licensed manager – that problem has grown, with 30 funeral businesses now using the waiver. We're looking forward to TCC's program helping to ease this problem."

The program will stay abreast of the industry through an advisory group of relevant professionals and program head Frank Walton, who owns and operates a funeral home, reports Michelle Woodhouse, dean of social sciences and public services who oversees the program. Graduates will have other career opportunities, she notes, citing positions in organ procurement agencies – tissue recovery technicians, lab coordinators, transplant coordinators, lab quality control coordinators – in medical examiner offices and labs in general.

TCC located the funeral service program at its Virginia Beach Campus, a part of the academic village at Princess Anne Commons. The program's merchandising lab and classrooms are in a newly prepared space with the latest in education and industry equipment. Students will perform clinicals at a local funeral home.

Accredited by the American Board of Funeral Service Education, the program requires students to complete the 68 credit-hour curriculum and take the Funeral Service National Board Exam before they can graduate. TCC assists students with completing state requirements, including a 3,000-hour apprenticeship. For program information, visit www.tcc.edu and type funeral services in the search box.

Contact: Laurie White
Media Relations
John Tyler Community College
757-822-1085
lwhite@tcc.edu
www.tcc.edu

Tidewater Community College - the largest provider of higher education and workforce development services in Hampton Roads - enrolls over 38,000 students annually, the second largest undergraduate student body in Virginia. The 35th largest community college in the nation, TCC is among the 20 fastest-growing large two-year institutions in the United States. Founded in 1968 as a part of the Virginia Community College System, the college serves the South Hampton Roads region with campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach as well as the TCC Jeanne and George Roper Performing Arts Center in the theater district in downtown Norfolk, the Visual Arts Center in Olde Towne Portsmouth and a regional Advanced Technology Center in Virginia Beach. Forty-six percent of the region's residents attending a college or university in Virginia last fall were enrolled at TCC. For more information, visit www.tcc.edu.

Funeral director becomes expert in identifying illegal immigrants

Posted on Saturday, Jul. 21, 2007

Funeral director Donna Harper has become an expert in identifying the bodies of dead illegal immigrants and helping them make their final journey to their home countries with something they never had in the United States - proper documentation.

Harper opened her Taylors funeral parlor - Harper's Memorial Chapel - almost three years ago. within the first two months of being open, she says, she got three calls asking her to help identify the bodies of dead immigrants.

Since then, she has developed contacts in the Mexican, Guatemalan and Honduran consulates and with coroners across the state. So far this year, she has handled arrangements for 148 illegal immigrants.

Date: July 19, 2007

To: Virginia Funeral Directors Association Membership

From: Virginia Funeral Directors Association Office

Re: Phone Scam

The Virginia Funeral Directors Association office has received calls from members about a new phone scam that is taking place. The caller is from "Heavenly Foundation." They request prices of headstones. When the caller is asked for their location and the cemetery location they become very evasive and then hang up the phone. Caller ID is reporting it as a Verizon TTD (operated assisted calls for the deaf) and the number is 612-547-0006. If you begin to receive these calls please get as much information from the caller as possible, and please report the calls to the VFDA office at 804-264-0505 or spinner@vfda.net.

Thanks,

Samantha L. Pinner

Director of Membership Services

Virginia Funeral Directors Association

JUNE 7, 2007

SCAM ALERT

Nigeria Funeral Scam

If you receive a telephone call, e-mail or fax regarding the matter below, please do not respond to their requests. This is a scam that is now happening in Virginia via e-mail, fax and telephone calls.

Many of our VFDA members are receiving calls this morning from an IP Operator who says she is assisting a man from Nigeria in arranging a funeral and the purchase of a cemetery plot for his father. The operator will ask you to contact a mortuary in Nigeria and begin giving directions on how to do so. DO NOT respond to their requests, this is a scam. If you begin receiving faxes from this person, please fax a copy to Lacy Whittaker at the VFDA office at 804-264-3260.804

Sample of the scam e-mail you may receive:

"The mortuary number is 0112348029749364 and the person to talk with is chris and the deceased name is ira clark so call them and let me know the price via e-mail to ship my father
thanks
chad clark"

Message from the VFDA President: Robert H. Johnson

We mourn the tragedy at Virginia Tech and the terrible loss for families and community.

The VFDA has responded in a coordinated manner to help with this crisis.

Our association is providing a unified role in helping to deploy resources where they are most needed. We are providing support to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Family Assistance Center, and local law enforcement agencies. VFDA member firms have been called into action and the assistance from members has been, and continues to be greatly appreciated.

Virginia Tech Victims Memorial

NFDA Special Bulletin on the Virginia Tech Shootings

MAY 2007

May 24, 2007

SCAM ALERT United Kingdom

May 24, 2007

If you receive information from a Funeral Home in the United Kingdom,

be Aware: Click here for details.

Press Releases

JULY 2007

For Immediate Release:

July 17, 2007

NFDA 15-07

NFDA Announces Exciting New Member Benefit:

The Executive Roundtable Program

Brookfield, Wis. – The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is collaborating with The Family Business Institute to provide Executive Roundtables for NFDA members. The new partnership between NFDA and The Family Business Institute will provide the first fully managed and facilitated program of its kind in funeral service.

The NFDA Executive Roundtable program will match funeral home CEOs into groups of seven to ten leaders where, with the assistance of professional facilitators, non-competing executives can openly review their companies and share information in a focused effort to build breakthrough success for themselves, their families, their employees, and their customers.

“We are so pleased to be able to provide this valuable service for our members. There has been an increasing demand among NFDA members to participate in Executive Roundtables, and we are responding to that need,” said NFDA CEO Christine Pepper, CAE. “We strive to provide innovative and impactful programs that will improve the profitability of our individual member firms. We believe this program fills that critical need.”

The Family Business Institute has extensive know-how in professionally managing and facilitating Executive Roundtables. They are experts in consulting for family and closely-held businesses. Family Business Institute is also a member of the Family Firm Institute which benefits both advisors and their clients by establishing knowledge standards for better serving family-owned enterprises. Because approximately 98 percent of NFDA member firms are family and closely-held companies, the selection of the Family Business Institute to manage the program is a perfect fit.

“We enjoy helping private business owners experience breakthrough success. The NFDA Executive Roundtable program will achieve significant bottom line benefits for its participants, and we look forward to fostering that growth,” said Wayne Rivers, President and co-founder of The Family Business Institute.

Enrollment for the program will commence immediately and the initial groups will meet in the fall of 2007. Members will meet with their groups twice per year at rotating host sites. Over time, every aspect of the member’s company will be reviewed. Participation in the program also includes access to the NFDA Roundtable member website with private access to the roundtable community.

Visit http://www.nfda.org/page.php?pID=968 for more details. Further information will be provided to NFDA members in the coming weeks and months. Members who are interested in participating in the program should contact NFDA Executive Roundtable coordinator Ashley Pharr at Family Business Institute. She can be reached at Ashley@familybusinessinstitute.com or 1-877-333-3333 x 231.

About NFDA

NFDA is the leading funeral service association, serving 19,500 individual members who represent more than 10,000 funeral homes in the United States and other countries. From its headquarters in Brookfield, Wis. and its Advocacy Office in Washington, D.C., NFDA provides advocacy, education, information, products, programs and services to help members enhance the quality of service to families. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

About Family Business Institute

With over 100 years of combined experience, The Family Business Institute is the leading source of expertise in guiding family and closely-held business through the challenges that growth and change can bring. For more information, visit www.familybusinessinstitute.com.

Media Contacts:

Celine Clark, 262-814-1549

Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536

JUNE 2007

Press Release - June 13, 2007
Contact: Melissa Reifert

MECC · 3441 Mountain Empire Road · Big Stone Gap, VA 24219
Phone 276-523-2400, ext. 301 · Fax 276-523-7430
E-mail: mreifert@me.vccs.edu

MECC to Begin Funeral Services Program with Help of John Tyler Community College

Soon, area students will have the opportunity to enroll in a new Funeral Services program at Mountain Empire Community College. Students may earn general studies credits at MECC, while pursuing an Associate in Applied Sciences Degree in Funeral Services through distance education courses offered by John Tyler Community College. JTCC and Tidewater Community College are the only two colleges in the Commonwealth that offer this type of academic program. MECC is the first college to partner with JTCC in bringing the program to its campus.

With the rapid growth of the funeral services industry, more trained personnel are needed to meet the demand, according to a JTCC informational packet. The Funeral Services program is designed to provide the necessary technical skills, academic background, hands-on experience, and professional attitudes that will help the student become a fully-licensed funeral director and embalmer.

Graduates of the Funeral Services program will be able to perform technical skills such as embalming with minimum supervision; implement and direct all aspects of funeral arrangements with minimum supervision; demonstrate an understanding of how to write a pre-need contract; set up and maintain an OSHA-approved preparation room; follow all regulations pertaining to funeral services; and understand all aspects of funeral services including preparation, restorative arts, cremation, at-need arrangements, pre-need arrangements, and providing funeral services.

Graduates will also be able to understand the impact of modern day funeral service practitioners, the importance of the history of funeral services and the impact on modern society with encouragement to conduct research along with faculty, and the high standards of ethical conduct as set forth by the funeral services industry.

Representatives from both colleges, along with special guests from Richmond, met on June 13 to announce the new program at MECC. MECC President Terrance Suarez and JTCC President Marshall Smith signed the official partnership agreement for Funeral Services. Also in attendance for the signing, which took place on the MECC campus, was Glenn DuBois, Chancellor of Virginia's Community Colleges.

Bettye Miller, incoming President of the Virginia Funeral Directors Association, attended the event with her husband, Ty. The Millers work with Gate City Funeral Home. Martin Hagy from Hagy and Fawbush Funeral Home in Norton also attended in support of the program.

"Coming from within the industry, I am very appreciative of MECC and John Tyler for beginning this program," said B. Miller at the signing. "I just hope you realize what you are doing for this area. Funeral directors and embalmers are in high demand. You are giving young people a chance to pursue a career in this field without giving up their homes in the area."

In addition to Miller's comments about the Funeral Services program, Ronnie Shortt, Chair of the Wise County Board of Supervisors, and Doug Mullins, Chair of the MECC Advisory Board, spoke of the positive effects they believe the new program will have on the community. Attendees joined for lunch following the signing.

For more information about the Funeral Services program, contact Kim Dorton, MECC Health Sciences Trainer and Instructor, at (276) 523-2400, extension 356 or kdorton@me.vccs.edu.

MECC and JTCC sign Funeral Services program agreement

Picture Caption: Representatives from Mountain Empire and John Tyler Community Colleges met on June 13 to sign an agreement to bring JTCC's Funeral Services program to the MECC campus. The program has already garnered support from professionals in the local funeral services industry.

(Front row, left to right) Terrance Suarez, MECC President, and Marshall Smith, JTCC President

(Back row, left to right) Rhonda Pleasants, JTCC Faculty of Funeral Services; Rick Sikon, JTCC Program Head of Funeral Services; Bettye Miller, incoming President of the Virginia Funeral Directors Association; Martin Hagy, Owner of Hagy & Fawbush Funeral Home; Ty Miller, Gate City Funeral Home

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