Directory:Jewelers for Children

In January of 1999, the first executive board of directors meeting of the Jewelers Charity Fund for Children was held. The organization was an outgrowth of the International Retailers Jewelers Charity Fund that was first incorporated in 1983. IRJCF raised funds through an annual jewelry industry event and supported a number of worthy causes.

The members of the first executive board of directors for JCF were Terry Burman, Jeffrey Comment, Dana Duneier, Robert DiNicola, Jonathan Goldman, Dennis Mac Donald, Leslie Mann, Michael Paolercio, Matthew Runci, Eric Austein, and Victor Weinman.

During the meeting a vote to change the name of the organizations to the Jewelers Charity Fund for Children was taken, along with votes to change the logo and the purpose were also taken. The mission of the organization was defined as “The Jewelers Charity Fund for Children is established by the entire jewelry industry for the purpose of raising money for charities that primarily benefit children.”

Initial officers for the organization were chosen. Terry Burman and Jonathan Goldman were elected co-chairmen, Victor Weinman was named president, Dana Duneier and Leslie Mann were name vice presidents, Matthew Runci was named secretary, Dennis MacDonald was named assistant secretary and Elliot Tannenbaum was named treasurer.

It was announced that the first Facets of Hope event would be held on Sunday, June 6, 1999 at the MGM Conference Center in Las Vegas, NV. Terry Burman was chosen as the honoree for the evening and the event ultimately raised $ 1,325,686. Distributions were made to the three original Legacy Charities, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, with each receiving $ 300,000.

JCF introduced the Canister program, a collection vehicle for retail jewelers to use in their stores, in conjunction with Jewelers of America. The organization also started funding the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at St. Jude and developed holiday card inserts that could be purchased by companies and inserted into their holiday cards noting that a donation has been made. The Wish A State program, created in conjunction with Jewelers of America would provide for wishes to be granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America in every state in the country.

JCF began the charitable organization registration process in 38 states where it was required at the time, and filed a request with the New York Secretary of State to officially change the name of the organization, which was subsequently accepted. Patricia Light was hired as the organization’s first Executive Director.

2000

Jeffrey Comment, CEO of Helzberg Diamond was selected as the honoree for the 2nd Annual Facets of Hope dinner scheduled for June 4, 2000. The event was once again to be held at the MGM Conference Center. Huey Lewis and the News were selected as the evening’s entertainment.

The executive committee voted to sell raffle tickets at the event for a Mediterranean cruise that was secured by the Jewelry Information Center. The fundraising committee format was formalized and the documents used to solicit donations for the event were adopted. The format for the evening was also changed to provide for presentations from children representing the charity partners.

Sponsorship recognition during the Facets of Hope event was expanded to provide more exposure for underwriters of the event.

The first Jewelers Charity Fund for Children canisters were produced and distributed to retail jewelers across the country, in conjunction with Jewelers of America. JCF also started participating in industry trade shows to help spread the word and a booth debuted at the JCK Orlando Show in February. Ribbons that were attached to attendee badges indicating “I am proud to support JCF” were also introduced at the show.

After the success of the holiday card inserts in 1999, the decision was made to introduce an actual holiday card that could also be sold during the holiday season. Ultimately a design by 11 year old Haley, a St. Jude patient, was chosen and cards were produced and sold.

Trade magazine ads were developed for the charity and started appearing in all of the trade magazines.

The Wish A State program was put into place and one wish was funded in each state in the country. Discussions were held with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation about the creation of the Glaser Research Network that would fund fellowships to medical students in the area of pediatric medicine. JCF agreed to contribute $ 1.5 million over five years.

The event raised $ 1.050 million and the board voted to distribute $ 350,000 to each of the three charity partners. More than 1,100 people attended the event. A tribute/memorial fund was established as a way for people to recognize special people in their lives by making a donation to the charity in someone’s honor or memory.

The board considered an idea from Stan Pollack of naming April JCF month. With the cooperation from Jewelers of America the first one was planned for April 2001. Information packets were distributed by JA to their members and the network of state jewelry associations. The idea was that jewelers around the country would hold events in their stores during the month of April that would raise funds for JCF. State level activity began with state associations holding fundraising programs during their annual events and independent jewelers started holding special events in their stores.

The executive committee voted to expand the size of the group to allow for participation by more areas of the industry and to involve some additional potential donors in the organization.

On November 16, 2000, the Jewelers for Children Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was officially dedicated. The board of directors held a meeting in Memphis, TN, in conjunction with the dedication. The group began discussions on how JCF could support a charitable cause in the areas where conflict diamonds were becoming an issue.

The trend of individual companies conducting on-going fundraising programs continued to increase and the organization saw the area of special programs revenue increase.

2001

The year began with the charity looking at the accomplishments over the past two years.  The decision was made to return to the Mirage Hotel for the 2001 Facets of Hope event.  Art Reiner of Finlay Enterprises and Stan Pollack of G. M. Pollack & Sons were chosen as the honorees.

The board voted to continue with the same three legacy charities from 2001; the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America.

The charity headquarters moved from the home of Pattie Light to donated office space within the offices of NEW Customer Service in Sterling , VA.

Jewelers for Children was invited to participate in a cocktail reception organized by the Indian Diamond and Colorstone Association in an effort to raise the visibility of the charity.

The board also considered the issue of Conflict Diamonds that was developing in the media and the potential for negative industry press. The charity began discussions with charity partner, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, to look at programs that could possibly be funded by JCF in conflict areas as a positive public relations move.

The Facets of Hope event raised nearly $ 2.5 million, with $ 520,000 going to each of the charity partners. With this support, JCF completed the $ 1.5 million pledge to St. Jude for the funding of the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic and became the first member of the Founder’s Circle for the Elizabeth Glaser Research Network, a subset of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The charity also agreed to sponsor the Foundation’s new efforts for a Call to Action program in the Democratic Republic of Congo for prevention of mother to child transmission efforts.

The raffle held in conjunction with the event raised $ 71,000 to support the charity. The board also debated the concept of entertainment at the event. The cost of the entertainment was quite substantial and the board agreed that different options need to be investigated that can reduce the cost and provide for more funds to support the charity partners.

The board also considered the concept of allowing supporters to use the JCF logo in their promotional materials. After much discussion and research, it was decided to not allow the use of the logo at this time.

The board voted to suspend the activities of the Honorary Board and tasked the nominating committee with developing a slate of officers and directors that was more inclusive. Members of the honorary board were allowed to complete their terms. The length of terms for officers was also set at two, one-year terms and agreed to appoint a vice-chairman who would be the designated successor to the chairman.

In November of 2001, the board met at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital with representatives from the three charity partners. The board visited the JCF Bone Marrow Transplant Unit that was funded by the industry. The bylaws had been reviewed and updated by legal counsel and were accepted by the board. The board also agreed that the next project to be funded at St. Jude by JCF would be a Stem Cell Transplant laboratory that the board was able to tour during the visit.

Representatives from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation reported that the first 10 fellowships funded by JCF under the Glaser Pediatric Research Network were underway in five locations around the country. Florence Ngobeni, an HIV positive woman from Soweto also attended and shared her story and the success of the programs Glaser is conducting in Africa.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation thanked the board for their support of the Wish A State program and the board had the opportunity to participate in a wish granting that day for a child who was undergoing treatment at St. Jude. Her wish was to have her bedroom redecorated.

Victor Weinman, who would assume the Chair position in January made recognition of Jonathan Goldman and his work over the first three years of the charity. Jonathan thanked the board for all of their support and their efforts in achieving the success the charity has to date.

2002

The board reviewed and implemented a number of organizational changes to make the charity better. The fiscal year was moved to September 30, and two sets of audited financials were prepared for the year. One set with the original fiscal year end of February 28, and a second set for the short year ending on September 30.

The board voted to expand the maximum number of directors to 35. The position of vice president for special programs was created to address the developing areas that were not related to the Facets of Hope event. The vice president of marketing was assigned additional responsibility for public relations and the organizational relations committee was eliminated due to duplicate responsibilities with the fundraising committee.

J. Walter Thompson staff developed a marketing and public relations plan for the charity that included outreach to editors at both trade and consumer magazines in an effort to garner some press coverage for the organization in light of the amount of money donated to the charity partners.

Howard Sherwood of Daniel’s Jewelers and Leslie Mann of Sears were the honorees for the 2002 Facets of Hope that was again held at the Mirage Hotel and Casino. The goal was to raise $ 2.5 million and due to the efforts of the fundraising committee and the honorees, a total of $ 3.120 was raised, surpassing that goal and the stretch goal of $ 3 million.

As a result of the success of the event, $ 600,000 was pledged to each of the three charity partners, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to fund a stem cell transplantation laboratory, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America to continue the wish a state program, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to fund five fellowships through the Elizabeth Glaser Research Network.

It was also agreed that JCF would contribute $ 250,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation International to fund a wish granting program with their India affiliate; $ 250,000 would be pledged to the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund for programs in So. Africa and $ 350,000 would go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for a call to action program in Angola.

Chairman Weinman and Victoria , the CEO of Make-A-Wish International visited India on September 27, to meet with the founders of the India chapter and to meet wish children from the program.

The Plumb Club held a super bowl party to benefit JCF and raised more than $ 4,000 at the event held in Orlando in conjunction with the JCK Orlando Show. JCF held it’s own golf tournament during the JCK Las Vegas show and raised more than $ 5,000. A special event was held at Utsav Restaurant in New York for directors and fundraising committee members to invite guests to help familiarize them with the charity and the efforts to date.

JCF also sponsored a wish for a 6-year old girl to visit Walt Disney World and the wish was granted publicly at the opening of the JA New York Show July. Jewelers of America also agreed to participate in the Hope for the Holidays program sending JCF holiday cards to their more than11,000 retail jeweler members.

2003

It was announced that Mary Forte from Zale Corporation and Matthew Runci from Jewelers of America would be the 2003 Facets of Hope honorees. The event moved to the Bellagio Hotel for the first time. A fundraising goal of $ 3.2 million was set by the fundraising committee with a stretch goal of $ 3.5 million. The event ultimately raised more than $ 4 million, exceeding everyone’s expectations. The event for 2003 had no raffle, necklaces featuring pictures of some of the children helped by JCF were sold to attendees to wear at the event.

The board voted to distribute $ 850,000 each to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Glaser would use $ 250,000 of the funding for the establishment of a prevention of mother to children transmission site in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Having completed the pledge to fund the bone marrow transplant unit and the stem cell transplant unit at St. Jude, the charity began funding a chair in genetics and gene therapy. The wish a state program continued with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The National CASA Association was adopted as a fourth charity partner for the first time with a distribution of $ 400,000 that was used to establish the Champions for Abused Children program that would fund grants to local CASA chapters across the country to assist them in programs that recruit and train CASA volunteers.

After Nelson Mandela made some inflammatory comments about the current U.S. Administration, the board decided not to continue funding the Nelson Mandela Children’s Foundation. The Make-A-Wish Foundation International also received $ 125,000 to support the wish granting program in India. With the distributions for the year, the charity surpassed the $ 10 million mark in support to children’s charities.

The maximum number of board members was increased to 40, to further expand the reach of the charity. The board also planned a third meeting for the year to be held at the Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. The meeting was hosted by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

2003 saw the creation of a membership program that went on to become the Hero for Hope program. Initial support came from attendees at the 2003 Facets of Hope event and a number of companies stepped forward to offer the program to their employees, including Zale, Movado, Finlay, and Hearts of Fire. The Legacy of Hope, a committee of JCF made up of folks from the next generation of industry leaders was formed and they held their first event at Slate restaurant in New York.

Working with J. Walter Thompson, the charity placed ads in all of the trade magazines promoting the Hope for the Holidays program and worked with Goldstein Communications on developing a press kit for retail jewelers to use in their local markets to promote their involvement in JCF and to provide them with “how-to” information on getting involved.

The charity also had an expanded presence at a number of industry events where fundraising was conducted, including the AGS Conclave, the Plumb Club dinner, the Couture Show, the JCF Golf Tournament during the JCK Show, the MJSA anniversary event, the 24K Club of Southern California banquet and a Super Bowl party at the JA New York Show.

Victor Weinman’s term as chairman was concluding and Terry Burman of Sterling was the incoming chair. Mr. Burman set his sights on expanding the charities reach within the industry during his term.

2004

Ed Dayoob of Fred Meyer Jewelers and Susan Jacques of Borsheims agreed to be the 2004 honorees for the Facets of Hope event that returned to the Bellagio Hotel. The reception was held poolside and it was announced that JCF had signed a multi-year contract with the Bellagio for a home for the event. The event ultimately raised $ 4.4 million. The decision was also made to discontinue having paid entertainment at the event, freeing up more funds for distribution to the charity partners.

The board announced that each of the legacy charities would receive $ 900,000. The money would go towards our commitment to fund the Stem Cell Transplant unit at St. Jude, completing our commitment. The board would look at proposals for a number of new programs to fund in 2005. The wish a state program would continue with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and the National CASA Association would continue the Champions for Abused Children program. The support to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation would be used to fund another two-year class of fellows and $250,000 would fund additional prevention of mother to child transmission clinics in Africa. The Make-A-Wish Foundation of India received $ 125,000 to continue the wish granting program and it was announced that more than 500 wishes had been granted last year. Money for a program with De Beers was also set aside. The board looked at a program, in the Galashewe area, called the Integrated Child Care Program. The program was run by the National Association of Child Care Workers and provided for community support of child headed households. The goal is to work with families left parent less by the AIDS epidemic in an attempt to keep them together and provide the support they need to strive.

The board also created an endowment fund that would be used to reach out to new charity partners as funds are available. The program was ultimately named after Jeffrey W. Comment, CEO of Helzberg Diamonds, an active board member who passed away suddenly in late 2004. An application process was developed and a sub-committee of the Charity Programs Committee was appointed to review applications and make recommendations for funding.

The marketing and public relations committee undertook a branding effort with the support of J. Walter Thompson. The ultimate decision was to change the name of the charity to Jewelers for Children, a shorter, easier to understand name. The tag line, A Gift of Love for Children in Need, was also developed. The board approved the change and effective May 1, the charity officially changed its name. The formal announcement was made the Facets of Hope event.

The Stuckey Company donated a VW car for a raffle at Facets of Hope and Kwiat donated artwork by South American artist Vic Munoz. The Diamond Divas were portraits completed by the artist in diamonds and the subject were famous actresses, including Elizabeth Taylor and Marlena Dietrich. 2004 also saw the introduction of the annual Time for Kids raffle where attendees could purchase tickets for a chance to win one of many watches donated by the industry. A Cadillac was also raffled off during the Couture event, for the Keys for Kids raffle. For the first time, the area of special programs raised more than $ 1 million for the charity.

While a new canister design was produced, the name change required another re-design and the canister program suffered during the year due to having an inadequate supply of the containers to distribute.

After some difficulties with some of the charity partners working directly with companies in the industry, the charity developed an agreement that all partners were asked to sign that indicated they would work exclusively with JFC on cause related marketing programs and not solicit companies in the industry directly.

The first Legacy of Hope event, a bowling party, was held in July in New York and JFC was honored by the National CASA Association at their Light of Hope event held on April 1, in Bryant Park.

The board also voted to increase the maximum number of directors to 50 and updated the bylaws to reflect term limits of two, three-year terms for directors not serving on the executive committee. The limits would come into play in 2011. A task force was also appointed to develop and implement a procedure manual for JFC to institutionalize procedures for the charity to keep up with the rapid growth and change the charity had experienced over its first five years.

In early 2004, executive director Pattie Light announced her resignation as of September 30. Industry veteran Laurie Hudson was hired to replace her and the office of the charity began a move to Southern California. In November Hudson was replaced by JA’s David Rocha and the office was relocated to New York City to space donated by Jewelers of America. The Florida and California offices were closed.

2005

The 2005 Facets of Hope event honored Sue Gove of the Zale Corporation and David & Sybil Yurman of David Yurman. The event raised $ 4.5 million that allowed for $ 975,000 to be distributed to each of the legacy charities. With this contribution, JFC completed its funding of the Chair in Genetics and Gene Therapy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and began funding of a $ 5 million, multi-year research program into children’s immune systems during cancer treatment. The wish a state program continued at the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as well as the Champions for Abused Children program with the National CASA Association. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation used JFC support to fund another class of Fellows and a call to action site in India. An additional $ 100,000 was set aside to be used for the Jeffrey W. Comment Memorial Endowment Fund.

During the event, at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, Martha Comment, wife of the late Jeff Comment accepted a posthumous honor for him during the dinner. Former Executive Director Patricia Light was also recognized at the event. The event concluded with a song presentation by Paige Armstrong, a wish child who was able to record her own CD. A copy of the CD, along with a promo video for JFC, starring Chairman Terry Burman was distributed at the event. Just prior to the event, the Le Vian Corporation held a fashion show and charged an admission fee that supported JFC. The event went on to become an annual activity held just prior to the Facets of Hope event.

In 2005, JFC also provided support for victims of the devastating Asian tsunami through Save the Children and also provided $ 250,000 in support to the American Red Cross for relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina along the gulf coast.

Marketing efforts for the charity were also ramped up with the introduction of Logo Usage Guidelines that provided specifics for companies who wanted to use the JFC name and logo in their advertising campaigns to promote their support. In store recognition items were introduced that included a window cling and a counter card that jewelers could display

In light of the rapid growth of the charity and changes to the infrastructure, a full legal audit was undertaken. A full report was presented to the board that included updated and streamlined by-laws along with procedural changes to insure that JFC continued to meet requirements across the country. In response to a law passed in California, the first Audit Committee was formed for the specific purpose of reviewing audited financial statements and meeting with the outside auditors, separate from management and board leadership.

The new canisters were distributed to retailers across the country, replacing two previous designs. The Hero for Hope program continued to grow, bringing in more than $ 200,000 in revenue for the charity.

The annual board meeting held in Las Vegas was moved from the Saturday morning of the JCK Show to the Sunday morning to allow for greater participation by board members, in particular the members who were observing the Sabbath. The move also allowed for directors to delay arrival in Las Vegas until the Saturday of the event.

Terry Burman concluded his term as chairman of the board and Laurence Grunstein of the Citizen Watch Co. of America assumed the role on October 1.

2006

The year began with the announcement that Mark Light from Sterling, Inc., and Ed Bridge from Ben Bridge Jeweler would be the honorees for the Facets of Hope event. Howard Sherwood, V.P. of Fundraising noted that the fundraising was already underway with JFC being the beneficiary of plush toy sales at both Helzberg Diamonds and Crescent Jewelers.

A Pacesetter event was held for the first time at the VNU CEO Summit in Dallas, TX and it was announced that JFC had commitments for $ 1.75 million for the event, $ 1.5 million ahead of the same time in 2005. It was also announced that the AGTA, IDCA, Leading Jewelers Guild, IJO, JCK Shows and the Couture event had agreed to share their registration lists with JFC to provide a greater base of potential donors.

The Marketing Committee commenced the search for a public relations firm to represent the charity and ultimately interviewed six firms. It was decided that the charity would work more closely with our charity partners to generate PR. The committee also started development on the concept of a Children’s Day, where JFC would build recognition by working with our constituents to earmark one day a year when children are honored. Jewelers would hold events in their stores and work with local media outlets to get the word out. JFC would also work with our charity partners to gain their assistance in getting the message to the media.

A cause marketing seminar was developed with the assistance of JA’s Director of Education, David Peters. The seminar was delivered at local events around the country to assist jewelers in developing their own cause marketing programs and helping to build JFC recognition. A survey was also distributed to guild retailers through the JCK Shows and Couture mailing lists, asking for input on their charitable giving efforts as a way of helping JFC better understand the needs of the local jeweler.

The charity began work with the Kazanjian Foundation of the Jewels of Charity program which provided an opportunity for local jewelers to host a collection of rare, celebrity owned jewelry in their stores as a way to attract customers, and to raise fund and recognition for JFC.

The Special Programs committee introduced the first JFC holiday ornament that retailers could sell in their stores. The design was a snowman that came from one of the holiday card designs for the year from artwork that was produced by children who benefit from our support. A music CD was also produced that jewelers could sell in their stores as a way of raising funds for JFC.

JFC also connected local jewelers, through the JA network of affiliated organizations with local chapters of CASA and the Make-A-Wish Foundation to hold events at jewelry stores to recognize the local support that JFC generates through our funding. The first events were held in San Diego, Portland, OR and Long Island.

The agreement to co-fund the Galashewe program with De Beers was officially singed at a photo op ceremony in London in January.

The Independent Jeweler Outreach Committee chaired by Matthew Runci met and made recommendations to the board that included the development of local level events for jewelers and our charity partners, development of a newsletter, development of a how-to guide for jewelers to become involved, and to devise a method for more independent jewelers to attend the Facets of Hope event to share in the experience of the results that the industry funding produces.

Cecilia Gardner was asked to chair the Governance and Ethics Committee to assist with the implementation of recommendations from the legal audit. The committee met and reviewed the bylaws and recommended changes as well as changes to the internal procedure manual. The changes were implemented in the latter part of the year.

Changes were made to the format of the Facets of Hope event, including relocating the stage to the long side of the room and shortening the program in an effort to make more of the attendees feel closer to the program. The event ultimately raised $ 5 million. JFC made a commitment to contribute $ 1 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital towards our multi-year commitment to fund the immune system project, $1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to continue the Wish A State program, $ 1million to the National CASA Association to continue funding the Champions for Abused Children program, $ 682,000 to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to fund an Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award and $ 200,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation International to continue the wish granting program in India.

JFC also made the first grants from the Jeffrey W. Comment Memorial Endowment Fund to the Jason Program, a palliative care program that provided information and support to health-care providers and families of children with terminal illnesses. The organization received $ 275,000. Grants of $ 50,000 each were also made to the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation which would use the funds to purchase bedside activity centers for pediatric hospitals and to hold Great Escape events for hospitalized children. The Hole in the Wall Camps would use the grant to provide summer camp for children with life-threatening medical conditions.

2007

It was announced that H. Marvin Beasley of Helzberg Diamonds and Lee Michael Berg of Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry were to be the honorees for the 2007 event.

Bratskeir and Seidman were chosen as the public relations firm to represent JFC. The firm developed new collateral material for the organization and the first draft of a how-to for local jewelers to use in their stores, including how to reach out to the local media. They also assisted in promoting a JFC wish-granting in Portland, OR, in conjunction with the Oregon Jewelers Association. The event generated tremendous local publicity for JFC and the wish, which was granted to young man who chose to have his schools baseball diamond renovated. The Marketing Committee also announced plans to proceed with a soft launch of the Children’s Day concept in 2008, in conjunction with the Facets of Hope event.

The board considered the amount of funding that JFC allocated to programs outside of the U.S. It was agreed that we could contribute no more than 25% of distributions to programs outside of the U.S., but with only the Galashewe program, we were well below that level. A sub-committee of the Charity Programs Committee was formed to investigate. The committee met and recommended that we work with our current charity partners, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to determine if there were programs we could fund and if we were unable to determine appropriate programs by the time we announce distributions, we would set aside some funding to be used for programs in Africa, and or, India.

Five million dollars was ultimately raised for the Facets of Hope event which was held for the last time at the Bellagio. It was announced that in 2008, the event would move to the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, with immediate proximity to the JCK Show. The Time for Kids raffle was re-title the Chance for Kids Raffle and the prizes included a one-year lease on a new BMW.

The board approved distributions to the charity partners that included $ 1 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for our commitment to fund the immune system program, $ 1 million to the National CASA Association to continue the Champions for Abused Children program, $ 1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to continue the Wish A State program, $ 675,000 to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for International Leadership Award , $ 200,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation International to continue wish-granting in India. The board also approved $ 325,000 for the Jason Program, $ 200,000 for the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation to be used to purchase more 7 PC Pals and to produce 8 Great Escapes, $ 50,000 to the Hole in the Wall Camps to fund 30+ children at summer camp, $ 35,000 to the Santa America Fund, a new charity that recruits and trains volunteers as Santa Claus and his elves to visit children in crisis situations and $ 50,000 to the National Association for Autism Research to help the millions of children being diagnosed with autism. The board also set aside $ 300,000 for a future program in Africa and/or, India.

More than 300 Jewelers of America members donated to JFC through a check-off box option on their dues bills and the first PC Pal was placed at Shriner’s Hospital in Portland. With the support of entertainer, Kathy Griffin, more than $ 200,000 was raised at the Centurion Jewelry Show and during the holiday season, with the generous support of QVC and HSN, JFC public service announcements ran on the stations on Christmas day.

During August, the first Jewelers on the Fairway golf tournament was held in conjunction with the Hope and Heroes Children’s Cancer Fund to raise funds for both organizations. The Kazanjian Collection, Jewels for Charity collection was also displayed at the Atlanta Jewelry Show and the AGTA GemFair to promote the program to jewelers.

Local outreach events with the charity partner and state associations continued with events being held in Lee Michaels stores in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and also in Oregon, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Arizona, Alabama and Ohio. De Beers LV, the company running the De Beers stores, published a coffee table book title The Wedding Book. All proceeds of the sale of the book will be donated to JFC.

On September 30, Laurence Grunstein concluded his two-year term as chairman and the role was assumed by Howard Sherwood, of Daniel’s Jewelers in Los Angeles.

JFC also upgraded internal systems and for the first time in the charity’s history, installed a true donor management software system. In the second half of the year, the general economy started to stumble and JFC started to feel the effect that this had on the jewelry industry. In response, all non-essential expenses were cut.

2008

2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the Facets of Hope event. It was announced that Allen Brill of Rolex Watch and Peter Engel of Fred Meyer Jewelers would serve as the honorees for the event. It also marked a location change for the event, moving to the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, adjacent to the Sands Expo Center where the JCK Show was held. The move would facilitate easier access for show attendees.

Early in the year, the board discussed the charities $ 400,000 loss of the previous year and it was determined that the charity should build a small reserve fund to cover operating expenses for one year. This would mean that the charity partners would receive less, but the charity would be better positioned to weather difficult economic times.

The event would also include the announcement of the first JFC Children’s Day, a day to recognize the support of the industry. JFC would work with the charity partners to make the announcement and begin outreach to local jewelers in an attempt to involve them in the process and hopefully generate local publicity.

The Plumb Club held a day-long education Forum in New York City and announced that they would make a donation to JFC from the proceeds of the event. In turn, JFC made available outside consultant, Phil McCarty to present a seminar on cause marketing.

The Galashewe program, co-funded by JFC and De Beers reached the end of its initial phase. De Beers approached JFC to continue the program, but due to decreased funding from the industry, the board made the determination that we would only be able to provide $ 50,000 in funding as a bridge until De Beers could secure alternate funding for the program.

The Facets of Hope event ultimately raise over $ 4.5 million and included a raffle with first prize being a blinged-out Volkswagen Beetle provided by Tweety Bird Enterprises.

The board voted to provide funding to the charity partners starting with $ 1 million to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital toward our multi-year commitment to fund immune system research, $ 1 million to the National CASA Association to continue funding the Champions for Abused Children program and a revamped website, $ 500,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to continue the Wish A State program, as well as $ 50,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation International to continue the wish granting program in India. Autism Speaks received $ 100,000 to fund the Toddler Treatment Network, and the Santa-America Fund received $ 35,000. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation received $ 335,000 to fund an International Leadership Award and the decision was made to present the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation with $ 50,000 to begin a new relationship with the charity.

The Executive Committee met for a day-long retreat in the fall to look at where the organization was and how we could build upon past success going forward. The results of the retreat included adopting formal guidelines and a process where companies could apply to JFC to run cause marketing program that would ultimately benefit JFC. An application process was developed and the Special Programs Committee was assigned the task of reviewing applications and determining which were worthy of going forward with.

The retreat also brought to light the challenge of how to relate JFC’s support to the charity partners to the local jeweler. McCarty Partners submitted a proposal to develop programs that would involve the local jeweler and allow them to show their support of their communities through their support of JFC. The proposal included the next phase of development for Children’s Day, and a children for children concept that would involve school children in fundraising for JFC.

The fall also saw an expanded outreach program to market the Hope for the Holidays program and hopefully build participation in the holiday honor program. A marketing plan was developed and executed in an attempt to reach as many new participants as possible.

By late 2008, it was evident that the developing economic crisis would have a profound impact on the charity. The Executive Committee met to determine ways that savings could be achieved and revisited the Facets of Hope event. After much discussion, it was determined that the event should be held, but an effort to reduce expenses by at least $ 100,000 must be undertaken. It was also determined that the proposal from McCarty Partners would have to be put on hold indefinitely until conditions improved.

2009

The year began after a disappointing holiday season for many in the industry. The Executive Committee had great concerns about the support the industry would be able to provide in the year ahead. The decision was made that it would be impossible for any two honorees to carry the load in the year ahead and the decision was made to recognize all of the past honorees in an effort to involve as many people as possible in the fundraising. The hope was that calling on all of the past people who had been so successful in raising money, we could hold the line on revenue.

Expenses had been reduced dramatically and stood at a level that was equal to the first years of the charity.

An effort to expand the Hope for Heroes program was not successful as many companies in the industry were dealing with staff reductions and did not feel that asking employees to contribute at this time was appropriate. Also, long-term participants in the program, Finlay Enterprises reduced staff dramatically and announced that they would close, taking away the largest donor to the program.

The event ultimately raised $ 2.2 million. Expenses for the evening had been reduced by nearly 40% and 2009 saw a revised dinner journal that included materials on how jewelers could become involved with JFC and real life examples of how jewelers were currently supporting JFC. The stories were prepared by editors from the trade magazines who donated their services to assist.

The board voted to pledge $ 1.75 million to the charity partners. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital would receive $ 500,000 towards the multi-year commitment to fund immune system research, the National CASA Association would receive $ 500,000 to fund the Champions for Abused Children Program, Autism Speaks, the newest JFC Legacy Charity would receive $ 225,000 to fund the Toddler Treatment Network, the Make-A-Wish Foundation would receive $ 225,000 to fund as many wishes as possible, with the Make-A-Wish Foundation International receiving $ 25,000 to fund wish-granting in India. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation received $ 225,000 to fund prevention of mother to child transmission programs in Africa and the Santa-America Fund and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation each received $ 25,000.

The event also included a soft-launch of the first JFC Children’s Day that involved support from the charity partners and some of the state jewelry associations. On a positive note, JFC received local level publicity in 48 markets across the country when our pledges to the charities were announced.

The first, official cause marketing program between JFC and a manufacturer was implemented when Honora introduced the Pearls for Girls program that would benefit JFC. Arrangements were also made with Zale Corporation and Helzberg Diamonds to provide for pass-through donations from programs they would run in their stores during the year with Autism Speaks and the Make-A-Wish Foundation benefiting respectively.

Howard Sherwood’s term as chairman concluded on September 30, and Ed Bridge from Ben Bridge Jeweler assumed the role. The new Executive Committee met in the late fall to start the planning process for 2010.

2010

For 2010, Ed Hrabak of Sterling, Inc., and Jonathan Goldman of Frederick Goldman, Inc., were announced as the honorees for the Facets of Hope event. The event would once again be held at the Venetian. A task force was appointed to review the honoree situation for future years and make recommendations to the Executive Committee for future honorees.

The year saw an improvement in the donation situation for JFC. By mid-March, donations were running at more than $ 1 million over the previous year and everyone felt that the charity had survived the worst of the economic downturn. Many major donors had returned with commitments and many of those who had reduced support in 2009, began increasing them again.

The Marketing Committee worked with some trade groups to survey retail jewelers and learn about their participation levels in Children’s Day and how JFC could better assist them. The committee reviewed results and throughout the year worked on a new concept that was named March for a Cause and would be developed further for introduction in 2012.

Frederick Goldman worked with their retail customers to increase involvement in the canister program and their efforts resulted in more than 300 additional canisters being placed in stores. The Special Programs Committee was so impressed with the success they decided to make the canister program a priority for the year ahead looking at ways to increase the number of placements.

The Executive Committee revisited the bylaws provision for term limits and ultimately decided that they would propose to the board that past chairs of the organization would not be subject to the term limits provision as long as they remain in the jewelry industry.

The event was a success, raising more than $ 3.6 million, well over budget. A task force had been appointed to review the event in an effort to make it more attractive to the younger generation. Changes were made that included a pre-reception for major donors to meet the representatives from the charity partners, mock-gaming during the reception and after dinner, celebrity honorees that included Kathy Ireland and Jaime Pressley who both received JFC Children’s Humanitarian Awards. An After-Party was also held, sponsored by the Gen-Next Jewelers that included a Disc jockey and continued mock-gaming with a dessert buffet.

The board announced distributions to the charity partners that included $ 600,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to continue our multi-year commitment to fund immune system research, $ 600,000 to the National CASA Association to continue funding the Champions for Abused Children program and a national volunteer recruitment campaign, $ 600,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America that included pass-through donations from Helzberg Diamonds, $ 530,000 to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to continue funding prevention of mother to child transmission efforts in Africa, $ 50,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation International to continue funding the wish granting program in India and $ 25,000 to the Santa-America Fund for volunteer recruitment and training efforts. More than $ 470,000 was presented to Autism Speaks as the pass-through donation from the Zale Corporation. With the 2010 distributions, JFC announced that cumulative donations to the charity partners since 1999 had exceeded $ 35 million.

The Charity Programs Committee, with agreement from the Executive Committee determined that JFC should work to be important to a smaller group of charity partners, rather than try and expand our efforts to support more causes. The committee also reviewed proposals from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for our next funding project as we approached completing our commitment which would be fully funded with our 2011 distribution. The committee ultimately chose a research program that focused on children undergoing bone marrow transplants and how the natural killer cells in the their immune systems helped to fight off the disease and reduce the chance of rejection.

With donated support from Viewpoint Marketing and their vendors, JFC produced their first consumer focused ad campaign featuring a Make-A-Wish child and board member Joel Schechter that would go on to appear in many consumer magazines and all the trade publications.

The board held a third meeting in 2010 in Memphis, TN, that included a visit to charity partner St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and an afternoon session that began a strategic planning process for the organizations.

The latter part of the year focused on the Hope for the Holiday and canister programs, along with continued collection of input from constituents as part of the strategic planning process.