Free coffee at funeral home drive-through

CHATHAM, Ontario, July 2 (UPI) -- A Canadian funeral home in southwestern Ontario is taking a community-friendly trend further by offering free coffee to commuters at a drive-through window.

For the next nine weeks between 7 and 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, drivers can pull up to the window at the Bowman Funeral Home in Chatham for a free cup, the London (Ontario) Free Press reported Thursday.

Manager James MacNeil told the newspaper Wednesday's inaugural giveaway confused some commuters.

"They keep asking us what we are doing -- I just say 'no, really it is free coffee,'" he said. "We just want to reach out in a way that is not spooky or weird the way a funeral home can be."

Rick Ludwig, past-president of the Ontario Funeral Service Association, told the newspaper there is a growing trend of funeral homes becoming more active in communities in ways not associated with death.

Along those lines, MacNeil said his business is also a supporter of the Ontario Senior Games, which will be hosted by Chatham this year.