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u.s. news Dialuna 27 December 2021
Biden, first lady visit hospitalized kids on Christmas Eve

ing you some joy today,” Jill hundreds of children in their
Biden responded. rooms at the hospital. Back at the White House, the
two capped off their Christ-
The president added, “You’re The Walt Disney Co. pro- mas Eve festivities by answer-
bringing us some joy, pal.” vided copies of the book for ing calls for NORAD, as they
each patient so they can fol- watched Santa soar over the
Biden also pulled out his low along with the first lady, United Arab Emirates on the
phone to show the kids the White House said. Each Santa tracker screens. They
photos of his new dog, book includes a White House took three largely pleasant
(AP) — President Joe swered calls to the the North Commander, a nearly four- bookmark designed by her phone calls from kids and
Biden and first lady Jill American Aerospace Defense month-old German Shep- office. parents, though one father
Biden brought some Command’s Santa tracking herd puppy. The dog joined capped off an otherwise po-
Christmas Eve cheer to service, another longstanding the family this week and was The annual tradition of a lite conversation with the
hospitalized children who tradition for first ladies, and seen playing with a handler hospital visit by the first lady president by wishing him a
aren’t well enough to go she was joined by Biden for on the South Lawn of the dates to Bess Truman, who happy holidays and adding,
home for the holidays. the calls. White House complex earlier served in the role from 1945- “Let’s go Brandon!” before
Friday before the Bidens left 1953. hanging up. The phrase has
It’s longstanding tradition for At the hospital, the Bidens for their visit to the hospital. become widely used by con-
first ladies to visit Children’s spoke with a group of chil- Before returning to the White servatives as a stand-in for a
National Hospital at Christ- dren making lanterns as part “His name is Commander!” House, the two stopped more vulgar epithet against
mastime, but Joe Biden’s of a winter craft project, ask- Jill Biden told the kids. “And briefly at a Jill Biden-themed the president.
visit on Friday was a surprise. ing each one what they drew this morning he was eating Christmas tree set up on the
It marked the first time that on their lanterns. Some drew my slippers!” street in D.C.’s Dupont Cir- Biden didn’t seem to catch
a sitting president had joined family, snowmen or other cle neighborhood by a local the caller’s intent, however
the fun, the White House holiday-themed art. The president and first lady business owner. The presi- — he responded, “Let’s go
said. then sat before the hospi- dent hung the 2021 White Brandon, I agree” as the call
They both spoke to a child tal’s Christmas tree, where House Christmas ornament came to an end. The White
It wasn’t the only tradition who said the hospital “helped Jill Biden read “Olaf’s Night on one of the branches, nes- House did not respond to
that the president joined him when he was down.” Before Christmas” to the tled between large cutouts of a request for comment on
in on Friday. Jill Biden an- “Well we hope we’re bring- kids, which was broadcast to Jill’s face dotting the tree. Biden’s response.

Federal program offers cash to cover COVID-19 funeral costs

people had shared in the of death. be unaware of the benefit, home equipment or staff.
nearly $1.5 billion that but others may opt against
FEMA has spent on funer- The percentage of individuals seeking the cash out of reluc- The program has been fund-
al costs that occurred after who have been reimbursed tance to revisit the pain of the ed using federal stimulus
Jan. 20, 2020, the date of the varies dramatically from state death, Shipper said. He said funds, and money remains
first confirmed case of CO- to state — from nearly 40% the better time to seek the available. No online applica-
VID-19 in the U.S. With the in North Carolina and Mary- help is when planning the fu- tions are allowed.
nation’s coronavirus death land to fewer than 15% in neral.
toll topping 800,000, it’s clear Idaho and Oregon, according After all required documents
that many families who are to state-by-state data com- “They’re much more likely are received and verified, it
eligible for reimbursement piled by FEMA. to take advantage right then typically takes fewer than 30
(AP) — When Wanda Ol- have yet to take advantage of than if they’ve already spent days to determine if an indi-
son’s son-in-law died in the funeral benefit. While the reimbursement the money and don’t want vidual is eligible, according
March after contracting must go directly to individu- to open it up again,” Shipper to FEMA. Once eligibility is
COVID-19, she and her Her son-in-law was traveling als, some funeral directors said. confirmed, applicants who
daughter had to grapple a lot, working on air condi- have taken on the task of in- request direct deposit may
with more than just their tioning systems in theaters, forming grieving families of The largest states account for receive the money in a mat-
sudden grief. They had to restaurants and businesses, the benefit. some of the biggest shares of ter of days. It may take longer
come up with money for a when he began feeling ill, the FEMA reimbursement for applicants who request a
cremation. Olson said. After a few days After the benefit was first money. check.
at home, he went to the hos- announced, David Shipper,
Even without a funeral, the pital and was put on a venti- owner of the Sunset Funeral The program has paid out The reimbursement is one
bill came to nearly $2,000, a lator. He died several weeks Home, Cremation Center & more than 21,000 reim- way of helping ease the
hefty sum that Olson initially later. Cemetery in Evansville, Indi- bursements in California emotional and financial bur-
covered. She and her daugh- ana, took out ads to let people and Texas, which have both den that the pandemic has
ter then learned of a federal “He could never overcome know that help was available reported more than 74,000 wreaked on communities
program that reimburses it,” she said. if they qualified. COVID-19 deaths. Resi- across the country accord-
families up to $9,000 for fu- dents applied for more than ing to Ellen Wynn McBrayer,
neral costs for loved ones To be eligible for reimburse- “Nine thousand dollars — $141 million in each state. president of Jones-Wynn Fu-
who died of COVID-19. ment, death certificates for that’s a lot of money. We neral Homes & Crematory in
those who died after May 16, wanted to find a way to tell The fewest number of reim- Villa Rica, Georgia.
Olson’s daughter submitted 2020, must indicate that the people about it,” he said. “We bursements have occurred in
an application to the Federal death was attributed to CO- stopped advertising some Vermont, where 123 people She recalled one woman who
Emergency Management VID-19. time ago, but when we have a were awarded a total of about lost her mother, husband
Agency, received a deposit by new family with a death from $704,000. and one of her children to
June and was able to reim- For deaths that occurred in COVID, we tell them about the disease in the span of six
burse her mother the $1,974. the early months of the pan- the program.” Expenses covered under the months. One of the workers
demic — from Jan. 20 to FEMA program include fu- at the funeral home also suc-
“Had this not been available, May 16, 2020 — death certif- Workers at the home will sit neral services, cremation and cumbed to the virus.
we would have been pay- icates must be accompanied down with families, gather interment, as well as the costs
ing the money ourselves,” with a signed statement from the needed paperwork, con- for caskets or urns, burial “To have to help a griev-
said Olson, 80, of Villa Rica, a medical examiner, coroner tact FEMA on the phone and plots or cremation niches, ing family is hard on a nor-
Georgia. “There wasn’t any or the certifying official list- help walk them through the markers or headstones, trans- mal day, but to see so many
red tape. This was a very easy, ed on the certificate indicat- process if they ask, he said. portation or transfer of re- deaths,” she said. “COVID
well-handled process.” ing that COVID-19 was the mains, clergy or officiant ser- has just broken a lot of hearts
As of Dec. 6, about 226,000 cause or a contributing cause Many families may simply vices, and the use of funeral and taken a lot of lives.”