I am interested in starting a foundation in my son's name who passed away from sids...?

Question

I want to help people that may experience the same loss or similar loss. I want to create a foundation that will help and assist families that have lost their child with burial costs.. It cost me 7000 dollars to bury my son and that money isn't easy to come up with . I'm not sure how to start this foundation... and i feel led to do so. So, if anyone can give me any advice as to where to start or any information at all I would greatly appreciate it. My son passed 12/12/07 two weeks prior to Christmas and it was hard to come up with the money to pay for everyting and I don't want anyone that has gone through the loss of their child to have to deal with another burden of having to figure out how they are going to pay to bury or cremate their child.. So, please if you have any info. Please get in contact with me. I am trying to get this up and running as soon as possible... And again thank you

Answer 1

That is an awesome idea.

I've had a loss as well and I am trying to start my own nonprofit so I understand your need.

I think the place to start would be to get a nonprofit up and running.  That way you can raise money that won't be taxed.

You can go to your library and they have a ton of books that make this process really simple.  You can also hire a lawyer to do it for you but that costs about two thousand dollars which is quite a bit of money.

After you get the nonprofit paperwork finished you can start fundraising money.  Once you get some money you can start up your business.  Maybe start by creating an website and advertising your services.

Also there is one other organization that helps with exactly the same thing you want to help with.  Maybe you can contact them and ask them questions?  Here is their website:

http://www.thetearsfoundation.org/

And one more thing: there are several funeral homes that will pay for all expenses if parents choose a cremation instead of burial.  So you may want to research funeral homes in your area and get a list of those going.