“Thank you for offering such a wonderful resource for people like myself who are grieving to know I am not alone in this journey. I look forward to our next grief support group meeting." - Ann

Think this has nothing to do with your funeral home since you are not a pet funeral provider? Think again. Offering this service can gain your funeral home free publicity, forge partnerships within your community and build a list of grateful humans who see your funeral home as a supportive place to turn to.

OGR prides itself on being a place where our members can connect with one another to share ideas and spur each other on to better serve their communities, but it’s also a place where our members forge personal connections that extend beyond the funeral home. 

I'm looking forward to seeing you this year at OGR's Annual Conference! Our board and staff have worked to offer virtual connection opportunities in the three years since our last in-person meeting to help keep our connections strong, but I am excited that we will finally have the opportunity to step outside the Zoom box and see each other again in the flesh.

Fuel your think-tank at OGR's Annual Conference!

Register for a three day race with multiple educational pit stops along the way! Take the time to reunite with colleagues and friends for the first time since the pandemic started, while delving into topics that focus on leadership and innovation. PLUS the schedule allows ample time for networking and idea-sharing amongst peers. 

OGR's monthly feature previewing education, events and other opportunities coming up over the next three months.

Now that COVID is moving into its endemic phase, we’re all breathing a sigh of relief. Everyone is tired of pandemic life. Funeral home staff, especially, have been asked over and over again to go above and beyond. Understandably, you’re tired, you’re numb, and many of you are probably traumatized.

Say hello to Amy Waninger! Join us in May at OGR's Annual Conference to hear her speak on how you can "move from panic to purpose" in your own business even as the funeral profession changes more rapidly than ever before. 

Saint Francis Cromo announced in March that they will now be known as “Reliable Funeral Supply, a division of Saint Francis Cromo.” The rebrand also comes with a shift to offering customers the option of ordering directly through Reliable Funeral Supply instead of going through a distributor.

WASHINGTON (March 15, 2022) - FEMA announced today it has provided over $2 billion in COVID-19 funeral assistance to support more than 300,000 applicants grappling with the financial stress and burden caused by the pandemic. FEMA is also launching a new outreach campaign and continuing to process applications to ensure that this program -- already the largest offering of funeral assistance in FEMA’s history -- reaches additional eligible families in need.

Express Funeral Funding is thrilled to announce the launch of their new website, www.expressfuneralfunding.com. The new platform provides a sleek, leading-edge design, coupled with impeccable functionality and a comprehensive overview of the expansive services Express Funeral Funding offers.

Changes, especially at work, can be stressful. They come in a variety of forms: new computer systems, reorganizations, shifts in responsibilities, personnel turnover. We are very rarely the ones initiating the change. Rather, we are more likely to find ourselves constantly responding to a wide variety of changes, all at the same time! Therefore, it makes sense for us to spend time developing strategies to deal with this barrage.

OGR's monthly feature previewing education, events and other opportunities coming up over the next three months.

The Messenger Company is pleased to announce the acquisition of Bass-Mollett Publishers. The acquisition brings together the funeral industry’s two leading stationery providers - both of which are OGR supply partners - whose combined product line, personalization options and technology solutions will create the broadest product platforms available for funeral homes.

OGR's monthly feature previewing education, events and other opportunities coming up over the next three months.

Have you ever had an unexpected medical bill with excessive out-of-pocket costs from an out-of-network provider? Beginning in 2022, this will be an issue of the past.

Not that many years ago, coffee only came in regular and decaf, and most households had a choice between just three television channels. The world has changed tremendously. Consumers now expect everything to be readily available, delivered overnight, in any color they desire, regardless of what they are buying. Amazon and Starbucks created these expectations and now consumers desire instant gratification. If we think we can serve the needs of the 78 million Baby Boomers and their families in the same way we served their parents, then we are whistling past the graveyard.

The information below comes from some of the leading experts and information resources on healthy living. LIG Solutions, an OGR supply partner, has curated these articles to help keep you up-to-date on the latest news, trends and data on leading a healthier lifestyle, which can help save you money and keep your health care costs down when paired with the benefits of your health coverage.

The unexpected death of a friend and colleague to COVID-19 in January 2021 led me to start researching how American death rituals were transforming during the pandemic. My friend was Hindu, and while watching his funeral on Zoom, I witnessed the significant transformations that had to be made to the traditional rituals to accommodate COVID-19 safety guidelines.

While many people enroll in their health insurance during the Open Enrollment Period (OEP, for those under 65 years old) and the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP, for Medicare beneficiaries), those are not the only times in the year where you can sign up for health coverage. There are still options available outside of OEP and AEP for individuals, families and businesses looking for health coverage.