“The monks of New Melleray Abbey in Iowa have been supporting ourselves since 1999 by the production of hand made caskets, and as early as 2002, we were offering simple pine caskets at no charge to a woman ministering to native Americans in our area who lacked the financial means to purchase one of our caskets. Through the years, we have repeatedly been faced with the heartbreaking scenario of a family stricken with grief by the loss of a loved one whose suffering is compounded by the burden and potential embarrassment of limited finances at the time of the death. In these cases it has been our custom to accommodate the family and insure a casket is provided that will dignify the deceased family member and help broken hearts to heal without the distraction of worries about money. And so, it was consistent with our practice of many years when recently a notice appeared on the Trappist Casket website: “A Message for Families Directly Impacted by the COVID-19 Virus.” This is followed by a message from the abbot: “To financially stressed families directly impacted by the COVID-19 virus the monks of New Melleray offer free of charge pine caskets made from trees from the abbey forest. Be assured that our heartfelt prayers accompany this heartfelt response to your sorrow.” Our prayer is that this gesture of support will be a means by which grieving families encounter the Son of God who died so that we and those we love might live and never die.”
Excerpt from New Melleray web site.

For a Catholic News Agency article about the monks casket donation to families of financially strapped Corona virus victims, see here.