2011 Annual Meeting on May 14. Come to our the annual meeting on Saturday, May 14, 2011, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm at the William Hall Free Library (lower level), 1825 Broad Street, Cranston, Rhode Island. Join us for a timely discussion with the best resources in the area on the subject of body and organ donation at the end of life. Our speakers will be:

• Kim Abbott, Program Coordinator for the anatomical gift program of Alpert Medical School at Brown University. She will explain the anatomical gift program, including how to arrange to donate your body for medical education. Can you still be an organ donor? Are there expenses? What would your body be used for? How might this affect your funeral?
• Susan DiCenso, Tissue Recovery Supervisor at the New England Organ Bank, which is the federally designated organ and tissue recovery organization that serves hospitals and the population of Rhode Island.
• Stephen Bruno, President, Rhode Island Organ Donation Awareness Coalition.

A brief business meeting will follow, at which members will vote on the slate of candidates for the Board of Directors for the coming year. The meeting will also address any member concerns. The recommended candidates to serve on the Board for the coming year are:

• Dana DelBonis, Term 2010-2012
• John Dineen, Term 2011-2013
• Bruce Donovan, Term 2010-2012
• Frank Ferri, Term 2010-2012
• Frederick Graefe, Term 2010-2012
• Karen Hanson, Term 2011-2013
• Carol Nahad, Term 2011-2013

2010 Price Survey Available. The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Rhode Island's updated price survey of the state's funeral homes is now available. For a copy of this comprehensive updated 2010 survey, click here.

The original survey, published in 2008, was conducted by means of a personal visit to every funeral home in the state of Rhode Island. We have received excellent feedback on how helpful the information has been for individuals and families making funeral plans. Also, many funeral directors have responded positively to our recommendations regarding the information in their price lists and how it has been presented.

For this 2010 update, we recontacted every funeral home, with follow-up by personal visit, phone, and email when necessary. We were again able to review General Price Lists of almost every funeral home.

As you use this survey, please report to us any discrepancies you find or any updates that are needed. We thank all volunteers who helped collect and compile information for this update.

Our Current Board of Directors.The following members currently serve on our Board of Directors:

• Sue Graefe, President
• Bruce Donovan
• Renee Bucklin
• Fred Graefe
• Dana DelBonis
• Frank Ferri

We have been especially gratified to have Frank as a member of the Board. As a RI legislator, he has been very helpful in being our "eyes and ears" with regard to legislative issues.

Funeral Home License Suspension. On November 15, 2010, in response to complaints about a cremation and burial without the permission of the decedent's family or the cemetery, the Rhode Island Department of Health suspended indefinitely the Funeral Director and Embalmer's license of Todd Lauzon and the operating license of the T. Lauzon Funeral Home of Woonsocket, RI.

An Inspiring Story. Can you approach the issues of death, funerals, and burial in a family when such topics have been taboo subjects and when opinions and beliefs vary widely? One of our members tells the inspiring story of how her extended family changed these "demonized" subjects to ones about which they could make specific plans together. Click here for her story, "Death, Burial, and Family Differences."

Our Newsletter.For a copy of our Spring, 2011 newsletter, click here. This latest newsletter contains informative articles, a book review, information about advanced planning, a description of the process for filing a complaint about a funeral home or funeral director, and a message from our outgoing Board President, Susan Graefe.

Last Year's Annual Meeting Speaker. At our annual meeting, in May, 2010, Carolyn Hames of the University of Rhode Island spoke on "The Importance of Remembrance." Click here for more on her qualifications and for a summary of her informative talk on the importance of honoring a person's memory, the various options for doing so, and the process of choosing the best way for each individual situation.

Membership Update. With some new memberships and with the re-defining, in 2008, of all memberships as individual, our membership currently stands at approximately 300. Note that mailings will still be addressed jointly to couples where both are members.

Agent Designation Form. For a form on which you can designate another person to handle your affairs after death, click here. This form is VERY IMPORTANT in Rhode Island if that person is not your blood relative, spouse, or domestic partner. Also, since domestic partnership is not a legally recognized status in Rhode Island, domestic partners should still consider using this form as extra evidence of their intent.

Our Name Change. Remember the Memorial Society of Rhode Island? That was our name until January 1, 2009, when we officially became the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Rhode Island. The name change reflects a trend among local affiliates of the national Funeral Consumers Alliance to adopt that name for their local organizations.

The Funeral Consumers Alliance of Rhode Island is an association of consumers from all walks of life who want to be informed about their funeral choices so that they may seek simple, dignified alternatives to the elaborate and expensive funeral services often promoted by some in the funeral industry. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization, so when you donate to the Alliance, your donation is fully tax-deductible as a charitable contribution.

Group planning for funeral arrangements started early in the last century in the Farm Grange movement of the Northwestern United States. These early "burial co-ops" evolved and spread into urban areas, where a sense of social activism emerged when these groups began to compare their experiences.

The national organization that was formed (then called The Continental Association of Funeral and Memorial Societies) joined with other consumer groups to support passage of the FTC Funeral Rule. This landmark in consumer protection requires that funeral homes provide detailed price lists to all, making greater choices available in funeral arrangements. The FTC Funeral Rule mandates federal enforcement to ensure that the rules are followed.

Today, more than 400,000 consumers are members of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, through its local and national offices. Democratically elected boards of the local and national organizations welcome all who want to volunteer their time and effort in this crucial mission.

As a member, you will receive the following benefits:

• A free Before I Go - You Should Know end-of-life planning kit, with a 20-page planning guide and state-specific Durable Power of Attorney and Health-Care Initiative directives
• The satisfaction of supporting the Funeral Consumers Alliance, the largest organization in America fighting for consumers on death-care issues
• Reciprocal benefits if death occurs while you are traveling
• Transfer rights to any FCA group if you move

Join the 400,000 members who are already educated about funeral options. Our non-profit organizations fight to protect your right to choose a dignified, meaningful, and affordable funeral. As a member, you will be part of an alliance of dedicated members keeping watch on state legislatures and congress for any legislation which can affect your rights.

We need your support—join now!