A GIFT THAT GIVES FOREVER Willed Body Program Director Discusses the Benefits for Students and Donors Amanda Mittelstadt has a positive energy you can feel in her handshake and hear in her voice. Her nature is upbeat and passionate. After she graduated from mortuary school and began her career, she discovered how her positive disposition benefits families in mourning. “The energy I naturally have helps families because they don’t see the stereotypical idea of a solemn funeral director,” says Mittelstadt, who has 10 years’ experience in the funeral industry. “They see someone they can open up to.”
“You will help not just one student, but many students and many patients.” – Amanda Mittelstadt,
“By donating your body, you will help not just one student, but many students and patients,” she says.
director of HPU’s new Her previous work in the funeral industry in Willed Body Program Pennsylvania and North Carolina prepared her for the opportunity. She has worked with many families who are grieving and understands the importance of fulfilling a loved one’s wishes. And she knows the value of community outreach and educating the public — she and her former co-workers once treated Hospice nurses and volunteers to a vacation in Key West, Florida. During the trip, they educated the group on the funeral industry so the volunteers could, in turn, help families who didn’t know how to navigate a difficult situation.
Donors will contribute to the education of future health care providers in the Congdon School of Health Sciences, including physical therapy doctoral, and physician assistant and athletic training master’s students. But their contribution will go far beyond the lab.
“Building relationships and trust is important so we help families move to the next step,” she says. “That’s what funerals are about — bringing communities together to say we support you and we love you, and High Point is a supportive and loving community.”
“They’ll remember you as their first patient who helped them develop the understanding of humanity — how to be kind and gentle. And they will take that with them when they begin to treat patients. It’s something that will always live on and continue to give back.”
Her clinical skills and her love for helping others are a benefit to students, too, who learn from Mittelstadt and faculty inside a gross anatomy lab that rivals the best medical schools in the country.
That makes her new position as director of HPU’s Willed Body Program ideal. Through the program, individuals can donate their body to science after death. Mittelstadt educates families on how the process works and how impactful their gift can be. Not only is she building relationships with these families, alumni, community members and anyone interested in contributing, but she’s also working with students in a new anatomy lab and supplementing their education.
The program launched in October and covers the following costs for those who meet the program’s criteria: transportation within a 300-mile radius; cremation, burial at sea or internment 62
in HPU’s Memorial Garden; donor’s name permanently engraved on the new Tree of Life outside the anatomy lab in Congdon Hall; and an annual memorial service held for all donors.
extraordinary education
“This new space and new program are educating the next generation of health care providers while helping families honor their loved ones,” Mittelstadt says. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing.” ▲