Community Service

Our Commitment to Our Community

The Owners and Staff of the DeVoe Funeral Service, Inc. prides themselves on their community service.  As a family owned and operated funeral home, we know the value of our community and efforts put back into the community.

• Annually, we contribute in the luncheon held at the United Methodist Church of Washington, NJ.
• We are also involved in Angels for "Lil" Mark DeVoe:

VisionWalk is the national signature fundraising event of the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Since its inception in the Spring of 2006, the program has raised over $17 million to fund sight-saving research. As promising treatments move into critical human studies, the need for research funding is greater than ever before.

The urgent mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Inc. is to drive the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

                                 ANGELS FOR MARK                                                                                      

This is our story and why we are so dedicated to finding a cure for eye disease.

        My entire life has been affected by degenerative retinal disease in some way.  As far back as I can remember my father has been losing his sight.  It began with an attempt to enlist in the Armed Forces at 19 and being told to go home because he was going blind.  My father was diagnosed with Choroideremia, a progressive retinal disease that would rob him of his sight.

In March of this year, our worse fear was realized.  Our son too was affected.  He was 6 years old when he was diagnosed.  It was devastating…..overwhelming.  We had no idea where to turn.  We knew we had to fight, but we weren’t sure where to begin.  I started looking on the internet for an outlet for my anger.  How could we fight to save our precious little boy’s sight.  How could we spare him the gradual darkness my father has experienced. 

We have found it through the Foundation For Fighting Blindness.  In April I attended my first event and learned there were several outlets to help stop retinal dystrophy.  I found out that night how close the researchers were to eradicating blindness.  I was completely blown away……I might be able to be a part of something that would stop the disease that robbed my great grandfather’s sight,  my father’s sight and potentially my son’s sight.  How amazing was that news.  We knew we had to get started.  We felt so much excitement when I left that meeting.  We also knew as a parents….we were not alone, which is how we felt.  No one can understand the pain you feel knowing you could be the reason your son may not see his children.  We are dedicated to seeing all retinal dystrophies to be something that doctors learn about as history not practice.

This war we have declared is not just for our son.  It is for the children we have met through this Foundation.  It is for the parents who stand by helpless as they see their child struggle with a darkness they cannot stop.  It is for the daughter who is watching their parent lose their sight to Macular Degeneration.  Can you imagine what can be accomplished through the discoveries made in gene therapy?  Can you imagine what other genetic diseases might be cured through what is found with the Foundation’s research?  It just brings so much hope for many disorders.

There are many forms of Retinal Dystropy…..but it all ends the same…..DARKNESS.

We are commited to making sure our son lives his life full of LIGHT.  Raising money to fund the very important research that will lead to a cure is of upmost importance.  The VisionWalk  is a national program that does just that.