The Bay Area Funeral Society needs a membership secretary. It is a volunteer position, and we are looking for someone who can commit to at least 1 year. The duties are very light and include:

• Mail membership packets, thank you letters, and requested brochures.
• Add new members to the database, and update information as needed.
• Add to the database entities who should receive gratis mailings (hospices, nursing associations, AIDS groups, churches, retirement communities and nursing homes, hospital social service departments, AARP, media contacts, etc.)

Also, the board currently has two vacancies--one is a regular board position and the other is for vice president. If anyone is interested in either of these, let us know and we'll send you more information. Please note that you can be the membership secretary and serve on the board.

The New York Times has launched a new online section called Open Topics - a "micro-blog" on topics such as health, finances, cooking, and a lot more. Check out the Funeral Arrangements page. It's got a great overview article on funeral planning, and FCA's executive director Josh Slocum is posting funeral-related news stories and features from media around the country.

We've recently added information on affordable funeral packages, green burials, and home funerals. We've also updated the membership plans, so please take a look and let us know what you think!

The Bay Area Funeral Society is currently conducting a survey about end-of-life protocol in Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco hospitals. The results will be posted here and used to produce a pamphlet called "When Death Occurs in a Hospital."

If you are a hospital administrator who would like to participate in the survey, or if you would just like to learn more about the kinds of questions that we're asking, please click here to download a PDF version of our document.

Our annual meeting will take place on Saturday, November 21st 2009 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd, Kensington, CA 94707. The meeting will be held between 1 and 3pm.

Featured speakers:

Karen Leonard, The Mitford Institute
From the Mitford Institute Web site: Karen Leonard has spent the last fifteen years as a death rites activist and lobbyist on behalf of California consumers. She was the researcher for the book, The American Way of Death Revisited and for the American Association of Retired Person (AARP). She developed both a funerary art gallery and a nonprofit organization and has appeared on television (60 Minutes and 20/20), radio shows and has been featured in newspaper and magazine articles. She is a founding member of The Mitford Institute and currently serves as the Project Director.

Jerrigrace Lyons, Founder of Final Passages
From the Final Passages Web site: Final Passages is a model project offering education for personal and legal rights concerning home or family-directed funerals and final disposition (burial and cremation). It is our intention to re-introduce the concept of funerals in the home as a part of family life and as a way to de-institutionalize death. We are dedicated to a dignified and compassionate alternative to current funeral practices. Final Passages' director has a long history in alternative health care. Jerrigrace Lyons, a Reiki Master, Certified Trager Practioner, and founder of the project, is a Minister who also directs Home Funeral Ministry. She has been interviewed and reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Mother Earth News, SF Magazine, KRON 4, CNN Headline News to name a few and now featured in a new PBS documentary "A family Undertaking" aired nationally in 2004.

Berkeley, CA. - Many Bay Area funeral homes are out of compliance with federal regulations, according to the results of the Bay Area Funeral Society's 2009 Price Survey.

BAFS volunteers collected and analyzed General Price Lists (GPLs) from 72 funeral homes and graded them for compliance with rules set down for funeral homes by the Federal Trade Commission. The "Funeral Rule," as it's been known since its inception in 1984, requires funeral homes to give consumers itemized price lists in a specific format. This format includes important disclosures to consumers concerning their rights to buy only the goods and services they want. The Funeral Rule also prohibits funeral homes from deceiving consumers about legal requirements, a tactic sometimes used to force customers to buy services and merchandise (such as embalming and vaults) that aren't required by law.

To view the press release for our 2009 funeral price survey, please click here.

To view our 2009 funeral price survey, please click here.