• V
metro
COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER
Dignified Buria s
The Jewish Fund to help bury unclaimed
bodies from Wayne County morgue.
Jackie Headapohl I Managing Editor
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representing our diverse Metro Detroit
community who have committed to
the task of honoring the lives of these
souls with respect and dignity"
Importantly, the group has estab-
lished a plan to ensure that this situ-
ation never happens again in Wayne
County.
The coalition created a solution
that they are calling "Project 9r If,
at the end of 90 days, a body at the
morgue has gone unclaimed or has
been signed off on by the family, the
medical examiner's office will con-
tact Techner or fellow past president
of the Michigan Funeral Directors
Association John Desmond. "We will
work with volunteers to ensure that
each person is given a dignified burial
at no charge," Techner said.
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June 5 • 2014
JIV
The Sinai Legacy
The Jewish Fund was established in
1997 from the sale proceeds of Sinai
Hospital of Detroit to the Detroit
Medical Center. Sinai Hospital was a
Jewish community-funded facility that
grew into one of Metro Detroit's top
health care institutions. As a legacy of
Sinai Hospital, the Jewish Fund contin-
ues to support community programs
and services that help at-risk individu-
als improve their health and human
condition.
As someone
told me, the Jewish
Fund was 'created to
do good,- Techner
said. "I feel it is an
incredible honor
and very heart-
warming to help
fulfill this mission:' Margo Pernick
The board of directors of the
Jewish Fund approved a grant of up to
$60,000 to purchase the caskets need-
ed to bury the nearly 200 unclaimed
bodies held at the morgue. The funds
came from the discretionary fund,
which allowed the organization to
move quickly. "These unburied bodies
were an affront to dignity:' said Margo
Pernick, executive director of the
Jewish Fund.
Burials are to begin in early June
and will be completed within a month
or so, Techner said.
"With this grant,
the board of direc-
tors of the Jewish
Fund expresses its
value of the funda-
mental dignity that
each human being
deserves," added
Richard
Richard Krugel,
Krugel
M.D., Jewish Fund
board chairman.
"Assisting in the collaborative effort
to provide a dignified burial for each
deceased individual left unclaimed at
the Wayne County morgue reflects our
Jewish tradition, in which the burial of
the dead is one of the highest mitzvahs
one can perform, because the deceased
cannot pay you back. In this case, we
have all agreed that bringing dignity to
the burial of these individuals is a reaf-
firmation of the value of each life:'
Before the burials take place, the
coalition plans to host an interfaith
memorial service in Wayne County that
will be open to the public, including
family members, at no cost.
"This will allow the community,
along with family members, to honor
and pay tribute to those who have died.
We will make every effort to ensure that
no burial takes place without at least an
effort to have family members present,"
said Techner, who added that the coali-
tion will work with family members
to arrange for clergy at the burials if
requested.
In addition to members of
the Michigan Funeral Directors
Association and the Jewish Fund,
partners in this effort include the
Great Lakes National Cemetery (where
veterans will be buried with military
honors); Missing In America Project
(which will review the records from
the medical examiner's office to make
connections to families to inform them
of this plan for burial and memorial);
and Matthews Casket Division (which
is providing caskets to this project at a
significant discount).
❑