Donations in lieu of flowers?

A coworker passed away this weekend due to cancer. Her obit listed where the service is to be held, but also said 'In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to_____"



Does that mean that they do NOT want you to send arrangements to her service or just that the requested place for donations is their charity of choice?



We want to send something, but not if they don't want it.

Donations in lieu of flowers?
Sorry for the shock. You are a very nice co-worker.

What if they have allergies?

What if...?

You never know, but I figure that if they make a statement like that, then they want to arrange the viewing, etc., they'll get a few flowers, and then have room for all of the people that come in, including those with allergies.

So, anyway, if you had to make a choice without any other advice, think of it this way:

Would you rahter err on the side of beuty and etiquette, or on the side of doing some good in the world?

I think the latter takes precedence.

Good luck to them, to you, and to your team of co-workers in getting through a bad time.
Reply:No flowers.



Send donation to organization, send a card to the family stating a donation has been sent in memory of ______.



Just went through this.
Reply:respect the familys wishes and just make a donation to whereever they are to be sent. just send them a card.
Reply:The donation you make will be made in your name in honor of your friend, so the family will still know of your thoughts for your friend, if you wish, you can still send a card to the family.
Reply:They don't want you to send any flowers at all. If you want to send something - then do as they requested and send a donation to __________.
Reply:Instead of buying flowers send the amount that the flowers would cost to the charity they say in the obit. This is the deceased persons way of paying back an organization that helped her and will help people like her now and in the future !!!! It would be nice for you to make that donation. The family of the deceased will get a list of people who donated !!!! You can also send online condolences !!
Reply:It means that they would rather have donations made to the charity. We recently lost a family member that was being cremated. We asked for donations to be made to a charity in lieu of flowers. We got lots of donations and we got lots of flowers with no place to put them once the service was over. Honor the family's wishes.
Reply:Yes, sometimes families decide to make a donation in the deceased person's name, their favorite charity, instead of recieving flowers. If they said they will accept donations to the charity of their choice, they mean it and want it. We did the same for my grandmother who just passed away. It's a nice gesture to the family. The donations go further than the flowers.
Reply:Go ahead and make the donation. It means the family knows how expensive funeral flowers are (never under $100 a pop) and would rather see that money go to something in honor of their relative that would help other people. The charity will send them a card telling them what you did and so they will know you did that. They will feel your support and be grateful for your thoughfulness.



I'm sorry to hear about your coworker.
Reply:They may need help with paying for the funeral itself. As funerals are very expensive nowadays. Starting at around $5,000. And probably, she didn't have any insurance to pay for it. Indeed, I think I would donate the money that I felt was appropriate to help with her funeral.
Reply:it means that they are already expecting flowers and would prefer your money go to help others by finding a cure...
Reply:Yes if they say donations instead of flowers they would like you to make a donation to the church or charity whatever they listed instead of spending the money on flowers - I think this is an excellent idea.
Reply:It doesn't mean they don't want flowers. They just know that is what everyone would think to do so they were hoping people would donate to that charity instead- you can only have so many flowers and they all die in the end anyway. It would be fine to send flowers but it would be great if you can donate to the charity as well and include in the card with the flowers that you made a donatoin of $ __ in your coworkers memory. I'm sure that would mean a lot to her family.



I'm sorry for your loss.
Reply:Of course flowers are appreciated. But they would prefer you to spend your money on a good cause they have chosen in honor of the deceased rather than spending the money on flowers. If you can afford to do both, they will greatly appreciate the flowers as well as the donation. If you can only afford to do one, you should follow their request and make the donation.