Group works to minimize burial costs

The Funeral Consumers Alliance for Virginia has grown from 4 to 170 members in six years.

By Jared Turner
  381–1643   The Roanoke times, Sunday, October 1, 2006

Death always comes with the cost of losing someone. But funeral arrangements don't have to be unnecessarily pricey.

That's the plea of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of the Virginia Blue Ridge, a nonprofit advocacy group that emerged in the New River Valley six years ago.

The local chapter is an offshoot of the national Funeral Consumers Alliance, which has 120 branches throughout the country.

An annual information session for nonmembers in the New River Valley will begin at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 at Blacksburg Public Library.

The vision of the alliance both locally and nationally is similar: minimizing burial costs, informing consumers of their burial options and holding funeral homes and crematories accountable for making rates known and affordable.

“There's a whole spectrum of issues we've tried to deal with,” said the Rev. Gary Schroeder, a board member and the pastor of Blacksburg's Luther Memorial Lutheran church where the chapter convenes for monthly meetings.

The Virginia Blue Ridge branch, which started with four members and now boasts more than 170, has its own method of accomplishing these broader goals.

"One thing that struck me from the national point of view is they're trying to take a 'one-size-fits-all' approach," Schroeder said. "Our approach has been much more conciliatory and much less accusative."

The local chapter is one of four chapters in Virginia. Members have made personal visits to all crematories in the New River Valley and mailed surveys to several funeral homes requesting the rates for various services.

The average cost of a funeral in the United States exceeds $6,000.

Virginia Blue Ridge secretary Isabel Berney said funeral homes and crematories are obligated by law to provide the alliance with a general price list to share with its members. If refused, a complaint is filed to the Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers.

“When the time comes most Americans don't have a clue as to what to do,” Berney said. “They're usually under emotional distress and they feel under time constraints. They just go to the local funeral home.”

FCAVBR members are trained to request simpler services at lower costs, such as alternatives to embalming procedures and ornate caskets — widely used but nonessential elements of burial and cremation.

“Embalming is a choice,” Berney said. “People don't have to pay for it if they don't choose it. [Funeral homes] can't charge extra or any kind of fee if the consumer provides a casket.”

According to the Funeral Consumers Alliance, most people never share funeral or burial wishes with family. FCAVBR members usually communicate their preferences, sparing relatives that responsibility.

All members receive a funeral planner kit that includes tips on cremation, burial choices, cemetery options and legal and consumer rights so there are no surprises in the funeral home.

“Many of them see us as partners in helping people dealing with issues surrounding death rather than enemies,” Schroeder said.

Berney echoes that sentiment.

“Our intent is not to be combative or hostile,” she said. “Most of them have been pretty cooperative when we've pointed out areas where we see a need for improvement.”