Greenfield Cemetery Plot Owners Can Donate Space To COVID Victims

UNIONDALE, NY — Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin and Town Council Members joined with a Franklin Square resident and plot owner at the town's Greenfield Cemetery to announce special legislation intended to assist local families in need who have been tragically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic has placed enormous stress and hardship on residents throughout the Town of Hempstead, particularly for those people who have lost family members to the virus. Working with Franklin Square resident Deborah Salant, whose family has owned a plot at Greenfield for generations, Clavin and the Hempstead Town Board have enacted legislation that allows residents who own unused burial plots at the town-owned Greenfield Cemetery to “donate” them to a family who suffered an unexpected or untimely death due to the coronavirus.

“Families across the Town of Hempstead continue to endure the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Clavin said. “Many who experience the sudden loss of loved ones endure financial hardship, and often cannot afford the cost of funeral services. By enacting this legislation, plot owners with unused space can now ‘gift’ graves to the families of COVID-19 victims in need.”

The legislation temporarily suspends a longtime town code that normally only permits the transfer of burial rights primarily to a family member. Instead, during the pandemic, a plot owner can now transfer rights to a family suffering from the loss of a COVID-19 victim. All costs related to the transferred plot are temporarily suspended in an effort to assist residents who are enduring financial hardship.

Deborah Salant, whose family has owned a plot for generations at Greenfield Cemetery, was the inspiration for this new law. She contacted the Greenfield Cemetery to inquire about donating her unneeded and unused space to COVID-19 victim families. Town officials were happy to comply with her request, and turned it into legislation.

"I feel that we all need to help those in need, especially during the pandemic," Salant said. "We can make a difference and that's so important in all aspects of life — we have to support one another. We hope that our fellow communities will follow Hempstead Town's lead and thank Supervisor Clavin and the Town Board for their unanimous decision to move forward with this program."

The Town of Hempstead has operated Greenfield Cemetery for generations. The cemetery, located in Uniondale, has plots that date back to the Civil War era. It provides burial services for town residents that are less than half the cost of private cemeteries.