As many of you know, Kathryn Helems has been in Baystate Hospital for over 2 weeks and is now currently in hospice care. Currently, we (her daughter Julie, and granddaughter Marisah) are now at the stage of making posthumous arrangements, including the wake and funeral.

Julie is responsible for making arrangements with the funeral home, and Marisah is taking on the responsibility of any following receptions/ceremonies, as well as assisting her mother with whatever else she needs. We would like to make funeral arrangements with Ahearn Funeral Home in Northampton, and they have quoted us $8,975 for the services we feel would best honor Kathryn. These services include the wake, funeral, burial, and the mass at our family's church in Haydenville.

Ahern's policy states that you have to pay this amount in full upon the time of death, and because we are going day-by-day with her health, we are unsure when this inevitable time will come. Kathryn has no life insurance and our entire family is on a tight budget with little income, so we are trying to prepare funds as soon as we can. The only thing that is already taken care of is her headstone, which was reserved by my grandfather before his passing in 2011 and is located in St. Mary's Cemetery in Haydenville.

Traditionally, our family has a reception after funerals at the Northampton Country Club in Leeds, which is estimated to cost a minimum of $2,000 for a 5 hour event. We would like to keep this tradition going and make it as nice as possible, especially since our close and extended family has not gotten together to say their final goodbyes to her. We are currently unsure what comes with reserving this space, but would like to provide catering, flowers, etc.

We are hoping to raise $13,000 to cover the bill for Ahearn Funeral Home, the cost to have a family gathering at the country club, and to cover things like flowers and photographs to display at the wake.

Thank you all so much for continued support and generosity towards me and my family during this struggling time. We cannot begin to explain how much we appreciate you are, and how your kindness has been helping us get through this.

- Marisah & Julie Helems

Quote from Ahearn Funeral Home, received October 21st: