Please use the bullet points in the template below and linked on this page to send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to advise readers worried about dying from COVID-19 about Compassion & Choices’ free bilingual online tools to assist them in making or updating advance care plans and naming a healthcare proxy. They will help ensure healthcare providers honor their end-of-life care plans if they are unable to speak for themselves.

Haga clic aquí para ver este recurso en español.

We encourage you to personalize the letter and use your own words and writing style as much as possible, so the letter reflects your voice and the letters vary from person to person.

Most papers only publish letters to the editor in response to recent stories, so please check the most recent story about COVID-19 deaths and use the story title and date in the subject line of your letter as shown below.

Please ensure you check the paper’s online submission requirements for letters to the editor before drafting and submitting your letter to find out the word limit, and how to submit it, via email or online.

If you submit a letter to the editor via email, don’t send it as an attachment since many newsrooms block emails with attachments from unknown addresses for fear of computer viruses. Instead, cut and paste the letter into the email with the “Re:” line of the letter into the Subject Line of the email.

Re: [Insert Title of Story, Date Published] 

Dear Editor:

  • The deadly COVID-19 pandemic is forcing most of us to face our mortality and reinforcing the need for us to plan our healthcare for the end of life or update it.
  • It requires completing an advance directive and appointing a medical decision-maker (healthcare proxy) to help healthcare providers honor our wishes for end-of-life care if we cannot speak for ourselves.
  • Given the harsh reality that 33 million Americans have lost their jobs since this pandemic started and countless others have seen their income plummet, many people cannot afford to hire a professional to help them with end-of-life care planning.
  • Fortunately, Compassion & Choices, a nonprofit, end-of-life care advocacy organization, has a free online COVID-19 toolkit available in English at CompassionAndChoices.org/covid19toolkit and in Spanish at CompassionAndChoices.org/covid19espanol as well as free online webinars to help people understand their end-of-life care options available at CompassionAndChoices.org/webinarseries.

[Name] [Title; if applicable] [Organization; if applicable] [Street Address; for editor’s verification purposes only] [City, State, ZIP Code; ZIP code is for editor’s verification purposes only] [Phone number; for editor’s verification purposes only] [Email address; for editor’s verification purposes only]