A business house in Edna, Texas, has created caskets for the children who were killed in the Uvalde school shootout last Tuesday. Taking to Facebook, Trey Ganem, who owns SoulShine Industries, posted that the caskets were being delivered.
"Caskets arrived early this morning!! We are rocking and rolling with the help of so many!! Thank you to everyone who has stepped up to help us and to help the families of Uvalde! We will be tagging and posting a proper thank you to all who have helped soon. Thank you all from the crew here at SoulShine Industries! Continue to pray for the families and all involved," the post read.
Quoting Ganem, CNN reported Monday that he and his son completed all 19 caskets — for the 18 children and one teacher of Robb Elementary School who were killed — working over the holiday weekend.
According to the report, each casket costs between $3,400 and $3,800 to make, and Ganem said while he has received donations from a few, his company paid for nearly everything. The caskets he designed for the Uvalde school victims have superhero and princess designs.
A Twitter user posted photos of some of the caskets he worked on.
“Meet the TX man who’s making customized caskets for each of the 19 young victims and two teachers from the school shooting in #Uvalde. Trey Ganem visited with the families last week so each casket is personalized to include each child's interests,” the CBS Austin journalist posted.
Softball, TikTok, Superman — The Special Caskets
Ganem is known for his personalised touches to the caskets he delivers for burial.
He told CNN it was the Texas Funeral Directors Association that contacted him on the day of the shooting to make the custom caskets.
He then met family members of the victims to curate the designs and themes for each casket. While some of these have softball and TikTok themes, one has a Superman painted on it.
Services for two of the victims took place at local funeral homes Monday, CNN reported.
This is not the first time that Ganem’s company has made custom-designed caskets for children. The victims of the Sutherland Springs shooting, the Las Vegas mass shooting and Vanessa Guillen were also laid to rest in caskets designed by SoulShine.
In the Texas incident, the gunman identified as 18-year-ols Salvador Rolando Ramos shot 21 people after entering through a door that was supposed to have been locked but was not, according to a BBC report.