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Crossfit Foundation: Wounded Warrior Project

Laura Bullock a StoneMor Partners (parent company of Aftercareplanning.com) employee wanted to bring attention to this much deserving foundation called Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to supporting men and women of the military and their surviving families. All proceeds were donated to CrossFitters who were doing a fundraiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.

On September 17th, 2011, CrossFitters from around the world came together to endure 17 minutes of one of the most grueling workouts in honor of those men and women who have given a lifetime of service and sacrifice.

For 17 minutes, they pushed themselves further, challenged themselves deeper, felt the doubt and wondered what the hell they got themselves into, but then remembered why they were there and appreciated fully those who we wish to honor. We turned to our community of friends and family, and asked them to join us by donating what they were inspired to give to our two phenomenal organizations. Our goal this year was to raise $3 million dollars and the chapters worldwide were able to raise $2.2 million. This will go a long way to helping the soldiers and their families.

Our beneficiaries are The Special Operations Warrior Foundation and The CrossFit Foundation.

About The Special Operations Warrior Foundation
The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families.

About The CrossFit Foundation
The CrossFit Foundation provides support and assistance to the men and women of the military, law enforcement and first responder communities and their families, as well as aims to enhance the quality of life and fitness of deserving families by sponsoring such worthwhile efforts as Infant Swim Rescue (ISR), providing exercise equipment, and other beneficial acts as determined by the Foundation.

About The Sportsgrants Foundation
The Sportsgrants Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was established in 2008 by professional athlete and social entrepreneur Scott Zagarino. As an advocate of the grassroots dollar and a veteran of event-driven fundraisers, Zagarino’s mission is clear: modernize the event driven fundraiser, activate one global fundraising team and provide “net donation” grants to charities. Sportsgrants’ patent-pending technology platform shifts the burden of event driven fundraising from the charity to the individual, creating efficiency and cost savings for the charity and choice and empowerment for the individual. To date, Sportsgrants has raised nearly $5 million and provided grants for a variety of charities and causes.

Cemetery Virtual Tours

It’s tough making cemetery arrangements let alone doing it online. But Aftercareplanning.com is dedicated to making the process easy and convenient for everyone. Today our lives have become so fast and busy, who has the time to visit and pre-plan at the cemetery. Why not make your pre-arrangements on Aftercareplanning.com. Now you can feel confident you have chosen the proper cemetery by taking a virtual tour of several of our affiliated cemeteries that have these beautiful 360 high definition tours. You can visit your local cemetery without ever leaving your home!

Below are the 22 affiliated cemeteries that have created virtual tours. You can pan left to right, right to left, and zoom in and out. View and look around the beautiful scenes.

Rolling Green Memorial in West Chester, PA
Allegheny County Memorial Park in Allison Park, PA
South Side Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA
Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Mt. Lebanon, PA
Coraopolis Cemetery in Coraopolis, PA
Lakewood Memorial Gardens in Cheswick, PA
Henlopen Memorial Park in Milton, DE
Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, MD
Glen Haven Memorial Park in Glen Burnie, MD
Washington National Cemetery in Suitland, MD
Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland, MD
Columbia Memorial Park in Columbia, MD
Crown Hill Cemetery in Twinsburg, OH
Hillside Memorial Park in Akron, OH
Northlawn Memorial Gardens in Peninsula, OH
La Verne Cemetery in La Verne, CA
Lodi Memorial Park in Lodi, CA
Melrose Abbey Memorial Park in Anaheim, CA
Oakmont Memorial Park in Lafayette, CA
Olivet Memorial Park in Colma, CA
Sacramento Memorial Lawn in Sacramento, CA
Sierra View Memorial Park in Olivehurst, CA

Stay tuned as your local cemetery may be the next one to have a virtual cemetery tour.

The Frankford Civil War Memorial Project

The Frankford Civil War Memorial Project was a project that came about because a group wanted to make sure that all the Civil War veterans in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia who were in unmarked graves receive a VA headstone. The headstones are provided free from the VA but it costs about $250 per veteran to have the cemetery set the stone. So the project was to look for individuals or groups to ‘adopt’ a vet. Thanks to the employees of Stonemor Partners, parent company of Aftercareplanning.com, the final soldier of the 33, Isaac Elmer Hersey will receive his headstone.

Information on this project is below.

The Frankford Civil War Memorial Project
Cedar Hill Cemetery
Cheltenham & Frankford Aves.
Philadelphia, PA
The original stones of the 33 veterans have succumbed to the elements over the past century and are in need of replacement. Only a few pieces of the originals remain. We have undertaken the project to replace all 33 stones so that these veterans may rest, assured that they will not be forgotten. Although this project has been a dream for well over 20 years, it has finally come to fruition only in the past 18 months.

Over that period, we have done extensive research to verify each and every veteran through military and pension records, census records, obituaries, marriage and death certificates and whatever other records were necessary to document each veteran. Over this course, we have not only documented each man, we also learned who they were, how and where they lived, what they did for a living, where they were born and died and how they spent the post-war. All are Civil War veterans with the exception of 2, one whom served port-war and one War of 1812 veteran.

Although the Veterans Administration provides the stone at no cost, there is the cost of installing each stone. The total cost was $8250 or $250 per stone which included, setting the foundation and the stone. All this money has been raised to date by donations and sponsorships of the veterans by many individuals and groups. We would like to thank all those that contributed monies to this noble cause.

To date, the stones are on order and are awaiting delivery and installation. Once they are installed, we will set a date for the grand dedication of these stones. We are planning a large ceremony with hundreds of re-enactors and people from all the groups and individuals involved along with political and business leaders and the media. Our goal is to provide awareness to the community of this monument and to help procure even more funding for the complete restoration of the monument itself. The base of the monument was repaired and stabilized a few years ago, but the obelisk is in dire shape of restoration. Only through contributions can this be achieved.

After contacting The Frankford Civil War Memorial Project, they said there was only one soldier left of the original 33 who had not found a sponsor until StoneMor Partners, parent company of Aftercareplanning.com. Here is the soldier’s story.

ISAAC ELMER HERSEY _ Co. A 6th Mass. Infantry Militia

Isaac Elmer Hersey was born on Feb. 1, 1838. He was raised on a farm in Abington MA, the only son, and eldest of Isaac and Olive Hersey’s four children. Abington’s primary industry during the 19th and early 20th century was the manufacture of boots and shoes and her factories would provide nearly one half of the Union Army’s footwear during the War. Wanting a different experience, Isaac moved to Boston as a young man and was working as a clerk when he enlisted in the 6th Massachusetts Infantry Militia. He was described as 5’ 8” tall with dark hair, blue eyes, and a dark complexion when mustered as a Corporal in Co. A on July 15, 1864.The 6th Mass Militia already had a venerable reputation from its 2 previous campaigns. The recruiting office for the Company was at the Tremont Temple, a Baptist church in Boston. The patriotic appeals of the pastor helped spark enlistments and the Company’s ranks were filled in just 48hrs. In deference to the church’s involvement, the company chose to call themselves the Temple Guards. When their service expired, they returned to Boston, where they were mustered-out.
Isaac had spent time during his service in the Philadelphia area; guarding confederate prisoners on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River. After the war he returned to Philadelphia and in the 1879 Philadelphia directory he’s listed as a clerk, living on Melrose Street. He never married and sometime in the spring of 1880, he became ill with smallpox which had no cure. Isaac was taken to the Municipal Hospital, on Hart Lane, and died there on May 15, 1880 at 42 years old.
He was buried the next day in the Soldier’s Circle at Cedar Hill Cemetery where he remains today in an unmarked grave.

Online Burial Pre-Planning

With the Internet, it’s a new world for pre-planning your final wishes and making advance arrangements. When it comes time to make your burial pre-arrangements, there is something new – AfterCarePlanning.com.

It used to be that consumers visited a number of cemeteries to learn about their options and make purchases based on their plans. Along the way, they dealt with a myriad of sales people and mingled alongside grieving families making arrangements for someone who had recently passed.

The entire process of pre-planning is changing dramatically.

Planning Burial Arrangements Online

Now, some very credible organizations, like AfterCarePlanning.com, offer consumers across the United States a way to become educated on pre-arrangements and make specific choices in the privacy of their own homes. Because it spans 25 states, many consumers will find a cemetery in their area that is serviced by the AfterCarePlanning.com. Step-by-step, their website walks a consumer through burial choices and provides email and phone resources if and when they want to speak with someone.

Memorialization options range from the traditional burial to inurnment of cremated remains. Burial options offered at cemeteries serviced by AfterCarePlanning.com include:

• In-Ground Burial
• Aboveground Burial : Community Mausoleum
• Aboveground Burial: Private Mausoleum
• Combination In-Ground/Aboveground Burial: Lawn Crypt
• Cremation

Each of these options are thoughtfully described so that the consumer can contemplate the option that best suits their needs, values, and beliefs.

Once a consumer is certain of their wishes, they can complete a transaction online, by mail, or in-person on the AfterCarePlanning.com website. With the advent of services like AfterCarePlanning.com, consumers are in the driver’s seat when it comes to making their pre-planned burial arrangements.

For Loved Ones and Future Generations

Beyond offering the burial pre-planning services, AfterCarePlanning.com has developed options for creating online memorials, requesting cemetery records, and sending floral tributes for the cemeteries they service. Because pre-planning can also be the beginning of considerations for how a life story is archived, recorded and celebrated.

Why Pre-Plan at all?

Answers to this question generally fall into two categories – financial benefits and emotional benefits. Consumers benefit financially by lowering the cost of burial expenses by procuring cemetery space and other items at today’s prices. Also, making sound life and financial decisions requires time, discussion and a little research. The best time to make these decisions is before the need arises. The emotional benefits of pre-planning should not be underestimated either. When arrangement details and financial aspects are secured, loved ones are protected from exhaustive decision making and large expenditures during a difficult time.

Just as you would perform estate planning, financial planning and manage other life events, burial pre-planning is a sound pursuit. Broaching the discussion of your final wishes with caregivers, adult children and spouses can be difficult to navigate. Our March 10 article, “How to Discuss Pre-Arrangements and Estate Planning” offers more perspective on this topic.

In Loving Memory Of…

“Everyday, I see tributes made in the memory of special people. Statues are erected for heroes and pioneers from the past. Athletes honor the great icons of their sports with special addition uniforms and ceremonies. More often than we may think, we pass park benches, trees, gardens, and sometimes even buildings right in front of our eyes, put there by someone in loving memory of a loved one.

It is also in loving memory of beloved individuals that you find cemetery memorials in so many different styles, shapes, and sizes. Maybe you have never thought about it, but when people visit a cemetery, they are there to remember, to reflect, and to recall the lives and memories of those who have passed.

As the seasons change and the years go by, as we visit our loved ones, wouldn’t it be nice to see something, in their memory standing the test of time? A bench, a memorial tribute bench, is one great way to create a lasting remembrance to put a smile on our face as we enjoy those precious moments.

I leave you with this thought. A memorial bench is not just a place to sit, but an artfully created tribute standing as a reminder of the life and joy a special person had once brought to our lives…And who knows, that bench, inspired by such a wonderful individual, may bring joy to many others for many years to come.”

-The Cemeterian