SoGal Foundation

If you or your funeral home is in need, please fill out this form.

In the wake of COVID-19, grief-wellness company Eterneva is organizing a GoFundMe for death care professionals who are in dire need of PPE and N95 masks. Eterneva is partnering with the NFDA, Good Grief, Pale Hearse, the Funeral Service Foundation, and the SoGal Foundation to raise the funds necessary to get these essential workers the protection they need in order to continue serving families who have lost loved ones. Every funeral professional who receives a mask will also receive toolkits and grief resources on how to build resilience in children and families during and following this pandemic.

We are raising $200,000 in $25,000 increments to buy masks quickly. With a goal of $200,000, which can supply approximately 50,000 N95 masks, all masks will be given directly to funeral homes most affected by COVID-19.

“This is undoubtedly a dark and difficult time for our country, yet we are inspired by what we’ve seen. So many people have come together to serve and celebrate our first responders and while we are so thankful for each of them, we would also like to acknowledge our last responders,” says Adelle Archer, co-founder and CEO of Eterneva. “We know how important this is because we’ve already donated 500 masks to our partnered funeral homes and have seen how necessary they were and how quickly they were used.”

While providing PPE to funeral professionals is the financial focus of this GoFundMe, Good Grief’s CEO, Joe Primo, says, “We need a multifaceted approach to address the practical needs for both professional safety and supporting families and communities. We are proud to provide grief resources for the families and communities that funeral professionals serve so that no child or family is left to grieve alone during this unprecedented and chaotic time.”

A lead contribution to this GoFundMe has already been made by the Funeral Service Foundation, through its COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund.

“The Funeral Service Foundation is pleased to support this worthy project through our COVID-19 Crisis Response Fund. As the National Funeral Directors Association's charitable arm, the Foundation applauds this collaboration among funeral service professional associations, industry partners and the grief community to source desperately needed PPE for our professionals in the field,” says Lee Wiensch, Funeral Service Foundation Executive Director.

SoGal Foundation is the largest global platform for the education and empowerment of diverse entrepreneurs, with the mission to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship and venture capital.

Most of the 40 million people in the U.S. acting as caregivers for aging family members identify as women, and more and more women are moving into death care professional careers. The SoGal Foundation sees this PPE fundraiser as crucial to supporting those women changing the death care industry for the better. As a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, all donations to this effort are tax deductible.

Supporting those who are putting their lives at risk by helping families who are grieving during uncertain times is crucial.

About Eterneva

Eterneva is a consumer technology company and grief wellness brand that celebrates lives by making diamonds from ashes. Eterneva designed an intricate eight-month process to create these soulful remembrances, which is a journey that is as special as the diamond and the person behind it. Customers personalize diamonds' size, color, cut, and inscriptions, so they serve as meaningful connections to their lost loved one. From interactive video packaging to hand-written letters, to a courier service that hand-delivers the diamond in a homecoming service, customers experience a level of thoughtfulness they've never seen before. Eterneva is based in Austin, TX, and was recently featured on Shark Tank, and on both Inc and Forbes' 30 Under 30  lists. To learn more visit www.eterneva.com, hear from customers at Eterneva reviews , and learn more about the science of ashes to diamonds.

Media Contacts:
Alyx Sealy, [email redacted]
Michael Goldberg, [email redacted]


About Good Grief

Good Grief is a leader in delivering grief services to children and their families at its family support centers and also through its Good Grief Schools program. Good Grief is a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization whose mission is to build resilience in children, strengthen families, and empower communities to grow from loss and adversity. For more information, visit www.good-grief.org.


About Pale Hearse

Pale Hearse was founded by two women of color with over 10 years combined experience in the Funeral Industry, a licensed funeral director and an experienced mortuary specialist. Pale Hearse was created to become the leading resource for affordable and Eco-conscious funeral options, with a streamlined focus on free and engaging education. It is our heartfelt belief that a well informed public creates stronger communities for those that find themselves dealing with tragedy.

About NFDA

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

About the Funeral Service Foundation

Since 1945, the Funeral Service Foundation has served as the profession’s philanthropic voice. As the charitable arm of the National Funeral Directors Association since 1997, the Foundation receives operational support from NFDA and donors across the profession to help advance its mission to support funeral service in building meaningful relationships with the families and the communities it serves. For more information, visit www.funeralservicefoundation.org.

About SoGal Foundation

SoGal Foundation is the largest global platform for the education and empowerment of diverse entrepreneurs with 50 chapters across five continents. Our nonprofit mission is to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship. For more information, visit www.iamsogal.com or find us on social media @iamsogal.

If you are a medical provider in need of PPE, please fill out this form **

There is a dire shortage of masks for frontline hospital workers right now. An Anomalie bride, Dara Mervine, is treating patients at one of New York's largest hospital's and her report from the front lines this week shocked us: medical staff are wearing bandanas  for masks and trash bags for gowns because supplies are so limited. A nurse in the city recently died after contracting the virus by not having the right safety equipment. 

Anomalie  is in a unique position to get masks to hospitals given our trusted team on the ground in China and supply chain experience.

Our goal is to raise money to get as many masks into the hands of healthcare workers. We will source CDC-certified N95 respirator masks (which are most urgently needed) but also FFP2 masks (more standard surgical masks).

We partnered with SoGal Foundation, a 501(c)3 so all donations are tax deductible.

Situational Analysis:
●  In the US and Canada, there is a universal shortage of masks - from NYU and UCSF to small community hospitals. We have yet to speak to a doctor anywhere in the country who hasn't said this is a dire issue. 
●  These stories are real, representative of a systemic national issue, and not alarmist. Anomalie posted one instagram post about the mask shortage and was contacted by hundreds of healthcare providers from around the country with similar heartbreaking stories.

Why we are asking for donations:
●  There is still a lot of red tape to go through the hospital legal + procurement processes despite the dire need. However, donated masks get straight to doctors. Healthcare workers need masks now + donating masks straight to the hospitals saves significant time.
●  Additionally, many hospitals we have spoken to are financially strapped right now - especially community hospitals. Here is a representative message we received this week: "We are also the fourth busiest ER in the state, which is being hit HARD by Coronavirus. The community we serve is mostly poor, mostly Hispanic, mostly immigrant. Unfortunately, we do not have the money, the connections, or the resources of some of the much larger hospitals around us, and we are struggling. We are critically low on masks. We are rationing and reusing supplies as best we can."

How will this work:
●  Donations will be tax-deductible thanks to our partnership with SoGal Foundation, a 501(c)3
●  100% of these donations go to paying vendors and shipping.
●  Anomalie staff will coordinate logistics and our team will be on the ground in China.
●  We will be placing the highest priority on N95 masks (we are seeing prices between $2 - $3.50 depending on model), and also purchasing FFP2 masks (about $0.50). We have confirmed with hospital procurement professionals we are getting good prices from our vendors.
●  We'll create a team of Anomalie staff, health experts, and largest donors to allocate supplies as fast as possible to healthcare workers with the greatest needs.
●  We will work with SoGal Foundation on financial reporting to our donors.
●  All money will go to moving certified masks to healthcare providers in need. If we can't fulfill this mission, we will return the money.

Why is our team positioned to handle this:
(1) Securing masks right now is a fluid but desperate situation - navigating a complex maze of knockoffs flooding the market, capacity constraints, Chinese regulations (changing daily on N95 export rules), and logistics of connecting mask shipments to healthcare workers in need.
(2) This challenge is tailor-made for our team: which includes experts on the ground in the U.S. and China, and an entrepreneurial mindset to run-through walls and not take no for an answer.
(3) We have a dedicated team in China navigating sourcing and regulatory issues. Our longest-serving factory owner is on-the-ground at the factory floor level.
(4) Our team in the U.S. who is well versed in coordinating U.S. China logistics.
(5) We are going to move extremely fast to get certified masks to people in need. Our constraint is money.

Process for Choosing Mask Recipients 
(1) We consider those in the Anomalie & SoGal Foundation communities who express need and interest via form on GoFundMe page.
(2) Applicant is evaluated by Anomalie x SoGal Foundation advisory board based on demonstrated resource shortage and lack of access to said resources for that hospital or location
(3) Applicant is evaluated by Anomalie x SoGal Foundation advisory board based on the hospital or location’s account of a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases or persons under investigation for having contracted COVID-19 in that geographic area.

REALITY Grant
We want to thank REALITY for the generous grant to this initiative. REALITY is an epic journey through Israel for global change-makers on a mission to repair the world. Following their journey, REALITY alumni join a network of entrepreneurs and global shapers that continue to work together to create positive change in their communities.
 
The content provided here reflects the opinion of its organizer and does not necessarily represent the views of REALITY or all program participants. Review REALITY's code of conduct here: https://www.schusterman.org/jewish-community-and-israel/signature-initiatives/reality-experience/about/code-of-conduct