Trey Ganem, who also designed slain Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen’s casket, has donated his services to families of the Uvalde mass shooting victims
The same custom casket maker who designed slain Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen’s casket is now helping to lay the Uvalde mass shooting victims to rest.
Trey Ganem, the owner of custom casket company SoulShine Industries, announced he is offering his services and time, which typically cost upwards of $3,400, for free, per BuzzFeed News.
“I’m on my way to help families in this tragic time,” Ganem, 50, wrote Tuesday on Facebook, after an individual from the Texas Funeral Directors Association asked for his support in the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, that left 21 people dead, including 19 children. “This is something no family should ever have to deal with. My love and emotions are already there.”
“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 personalization,” Ganem told BuzzFeed of the conversation he had with the TFDA member.
A shortage of child-sized caskets at Ganem’s Edna-based business forced him to order from a manufacturer in Griffin, Ga., nearly 900 miles away.
After the manufacturer worked 20 straight hours to ensure an on-time delivery, Ganem said a trucking company drove for over 24 hours to pick up the caskets and bring them back to his shop.
Ganem, who normally runs his business with his son, says about a dozen people volunteered to help sand, paint and apply vinyl to the caskets for the families of 19 of the 21 shooting victims, including Eliahna Torres.
Eliahna’s mother, Sandra Torres, and Ganem collaborated on the design of the fourth grader’s casket, featuring llamas, the TikTok logo and neon yellow slime.
“She would tell me that she needed glue for school because she had a big ole project to do, and the glue would be to make slime,” Sandra recalled to the outlet. “She drove us crazy with the TikTok.”
Funeral masses at Sacred Heart Catholic Church begin Tuesday, while the local funeral home, Rushing-Estes-Knowles Mortuary, is reportedly booked with funerals through June 13.
The school district in Uvalde has opened an official account with First State Bank of Uvalde to support Robb Elementary families affected by the tragedy. People can send checks through the mail (payable to the “Robb School Memorial Fund”) or donate money through Zelle to robbschoolmemorialfund@gmail.com. People can also donate by calling 830-356-2273.
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