Ganem made 19 caskets for the Uvalde victims
Children killed in the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school will be buried in bespoke caskets designed free of charge.
Casket-maker Trey Ganem met with grieving families on May 25, just a day after 19 children and two adults were gunned down by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos. According to Buzzfeed, members of the community reached out to Ganem through his SoulShine Industries business to ask whether he could assist in funeral arrangements.
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“I think there were 17 at the time that he knew of, and [he] wanted to know if I would be able to help out and make sure that all these kids have, you know, some personalisation,” the 50-year-old told the publisher.
But children’s caskets are rarely stocked in bulk, and scarce resources meant that Ganem had to scramble to get things sorted from his supplier in Griffin, Georgia. Ganem is based in Edna, Texas, which according to Google Maps, is a 13-hour drive from Griffin.
The manufacturer is said to have worked 20-hours straight to supply the necessary caskets.
A friend of Ganem’s hired a Texas trucking company to ship goods between the two locations, and after getting a shipment at 2am, Ganem and his son worked tirelessly to fulfill the orders. A dozen volunteers also helped.
“It has been an extremely emotional roller coaster for me,” Ganem said. “I don’t even know if you can hear my voice. I haven’t hollered at all, but I’m losing my voice, for whatever reason.”
Ultimately, Ganem made 19 caskets for the Uvalde victims.
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One of the victims, 10-year-old Eliahna Torres, loved llamas and TikTok, so naturally, Ganem produced a casket complete with her favourite things.
Another family requested “dinosaurs, with flashlights, holding a pickle.”
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