There are two things that always get sent to grieving families: flowers, and food. Flowers come from well-wishers all over the country, because it’s easy to send them. Just go to your favorite local florist, or jump online, and you’re set.

Food has been somewhat more problematical. If you’re local, you can make something and take it to the home. But if you’re in Seattle, and you want to do something for your friend in Miami, you haven’t had many choices.

Enter David Storke, owner of Storke Funeral Home in Bowling Green, Virginia. Storke recognized the difficulties in taking care of friends and family over long distances in today’s society, and came up with Sympathyfood.com as “as a way of bringing back the Southern custom of bringing home cooked “comfort” food to families who have experienced a death in the family.”

Storke partnered with a restaurant food supplier in Greensboro, North Carolina that services high-end restaurants and country clubs. You can order food to be delivered whenever you want, whether right at the time of the funeral, or later after everyone has gone home. You can also send a gift certificate that the family can use later.

Storke’s colleagues like the idea. Funeral Director Tom Gale, of of Currie Funeral Home in Kilmarnock loves the idea. “Flowers are nice. I like flowers, but food is a necessity.”