SUNY Canton Funeral Services Administration Program Joins COVID-19 Effort

Faculty members and students from SUNY Canton’s Funeral Services Administration program are volunteering in New York City during the ongoing COVID-19 battle.

David R. Penepent, Ph.D., director of the college’s four-year funeral services program, has orchestrated “Hands with a Heart,” a grass-roots effort to help alleviate the strain on the city’s overworked funeral homes.

His efforts have been documented by numerous national media outlets, including

• The New York Times:The Mortuary Science Professor Who Came 'Out of Nowhere' to Help N.Y.C.
• CNN:New York crematories overwhelmed by the number of dead get help from volunteers
• ABC 7 Eyewitness News: Coronavirus News: New York professor helps transport bodies from overwhelmed funeral homes to crematoriums out of state
• Univision Noticias: Covid-19: Profesor en Nueva York ayuda a familias con el proceso de cremación de sus seres queridos 

“This is a multi-college effort,” he said. “Mortuary science and related programs are coordinating to provide resources to help overcome this tragedy.”

Licensed funeral directors work side-by-side with student volunteers to transport the deceased to crematoriums all over the state and to neighboring facilities in Vermont and Pennsylvania. Following cremation, remains are then sent home to families. “Our students are well-equipped to handle this situation with professionalism and compassion,” he said.

The students benefit from knowing the proper protocols and procedures to work within mass-fatality situations. “We are all wearing the proper personal protective equipment,” he said.

Tamara Bullock, owner of Bullock Funeral Services in Harlem and a 2001 SUNY Canton graduate commended the college for providing much-needed relief.

“I was so grateful for their assistance,” she said. “We don’t have room in the funeral home for all of the people who need services because the we are delayed in having cremations. Our crematories have too many requests and can’t accommodate most people.”

Newly hired lecturer Darien B. Frederick of Watertown is helping plan weekly transportation trips, which sends the SUNY Canton volunteers across the state. Frederick is a 2017 SUNY Canton graduate.

“At SUNY Canton, we value solving problems and doing the right thing,” said Peggy A. De Cooke, college provost and vice president for academic affairs. “We care about our extended community and we are ready to help.”

The college’s funeral services administration program is one of the very few four-year mortuary science majors in the United States. It is also one of the only programs of its kind within the SUNY system.