2009 |

By Debbie Glover

St. Tammany News

Published on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:20 AM CDT

Times are tough for charities, but many are finding the heart of gold at the end of the rainbow in jeweler Anne Dale.

The Gold Charity Event they are conducting in Mandeville this month will benefit the charity of the customer’s choice. Just bring in unwanted, broken or outdated jewelry to the store.

Dale will pay cash to sellers and then donate a portion of the recycling proceeds to a local charity, including Project Graduation, Food Bank, Hospice of the South, Support our War Heroes, Bone Marrow Registry, KidSense playgrounds for special needs children, Easter Seals and the Louisiana Breast Cancer Task Force. line program which began after hurricane Katrina and continues to raise money from sales

Not only does the recycling gold event give members and friends of an organization a chance to sell old jewelry and receive cash for items that are collecting dust, it recycles precious metals, which helps alleviate the need for further mining and damage to our environment.

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Dale also evaluated jewelry from Michelle Anderson of Easter Seals. She was very surprised with the amount of money she received for the items, and said, “I had no idea that my old jewelry was worth so much. Leaving with money in my hand and knowing I just helped Easter Seals is fantastic.”

It is also a unique way to raise thousands of dollars for great causes.

The Gold Charity Event is part of Anne Dale’s “Know What it Means” fashionable jewelry for charity. Modeled from 1960’s school paper drives, this event gives everyone the chance to be part of a solution while selling their unwanted precious metals and old jewelry for cash.

“Anne Dale is a long time sponsor of our unique special-needs playgrounds that are designed and donated to area public schools,” said LeAnne Cantrell of KidSense.

Dale also sells a KidSense puzzle piece as part of her Jewelry for a Cause line that benefits the building of the playgrounds. The latest sensory playground, built especially for special needs children, is planned for Magnolia Trace Elementary and Lake Harbor Middle Schools in Mandeville. Cantrell said, “Anne Dale is helping make this dream a reality.”

Help your favorite charity and clean out those tangled-beyond-repair gold chains by bringing them to Anne Dale Jewelry this week.

Source:

St. Tammany News

Two things weather the storms of life – Love and Diamonds

Volumes of stories have been told at New Orleans jewelry counters over the years; it is as if the diamonds and gemstones I deal in are recorders of history – my customers’ rites of passage.

Engagements, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, as well as the difficult times such as divorce, death and inheritance often require my expertise as a jeweler. Jewelry is arguably the most spiritual of all physical products in the marketplace this is true for all races, religions, cultures and periods in history.

My job description often falls somewhere between a priest, bartender and party planner, currently writing the final pages of my first book in which I recall many jewelry stories. One story many years ago is of a young man that struggled with walking and slurred his speech. It made it difficult to understand as he purchased a ring for his girlfriend.

Months later his older sister (a saint and prominent attorney) would find her way into the jewelry store to thank me…she told me his story – a brain injury (automobile accident) and how he had sold his television to purchase the ring for his girlfriend.

I put together a selection of rings for the man to choose from… the sister realized his money would not have covered the cost of the ring chosen and she wanted to pay me the balance. With laughter and tears I embraced his loving sister and explained that I had earned something you can not buy with money.

Another…..Just this week one of my very best customers (friend) surprised me with a bottle of champagne, picking up a long awaited purchase. A stunning diamond necklace definitely not for everyday wear but one of those “special occasions only” jewelry items (50th birthday gift), we popped open the bottle (the cork went flying) we toasted and enjoyed the bubbly.

Later, I reflected on the many events in my customer’s lives, personalfamily events that through jewelry I had been a part. Each of the many fine jewelry items over that period represent chapters in their life, as if the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls and gold were “story keepers” – that is what makes these stones and metals – “precious“.

Saint Joseph Abbey Retreat

Covington, Louisiana

June 26 -28th

During a retreat at the Saint Joseph Abbey Monastery, Immaculée shared her miraculous story of how she survived during the Rwanda genocide in 1994 .

It’s an amazing story. Immaculee was 22 years old and home for Easter Break from her second year of college when the Genocide began. She survived by hiding in a Pastor’s tiny bathroom 4′ x 3′ feet for 91 days with seven other starving women.

After reading her book, Left to Tell, which is life altering, I was inspired to create a piece of jewelry for her as a reminder of her spirit, mission of love and forgiveness.

The piece is called “Jewel of Africa”, consisting of a silhouette of Africa in gold with a diamond set in Rwanda.

Engraved on the back are the names of her father, mother and two brothers who were killed during the genocide. I was moved to tears when she turned the piece over and read their names from her heart.

Immaculée shows us how to embrace the power of prayer, forge a profound and lasting relationship with God, and discover the importance of forgiveness and the meaning of truly unconditional love and understanding — through our darkest hours.

The Music Within
by Anne Dale

It is an undeniable truth that children are the conduit that generations use to communicate.

The greatest challenge of one generation is to nurture the next and by doing so cultivate a bridge of hope for all of mankind.

“Education” literally means to draw out from within; an extraordinary education reveals the true gifts these children have to offer.

These gifts are imperative for the most important thing in life, our happiness.

I believe there is a universe of knowledge within each child.

This includes all children but especially those with Autism and other labeled “disabilities”; whose gifts when we allow ourselves to receive them, are often extra special.

Jewelry Authority at JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show

Educational Workshop by Anne Dale

Thursday May 28, 2009

JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show

Join jewelry authority Anne Dale and learn how this socially minded independent jeweler developed a unique market niche by creating cause related jewelry designs.

Along with being a diamond specialist, Anne Dale’s Jeweler for a Cause emerged from the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina as a collection of original jewelry designs by the Mandeville jewelry store designer.

Anne’s designs include the Facing Autism Collection™, the Self-Esteem Pendant™, the military Star of Hope Collection™, the New Orleans Louisiana Collection, the Perseverance pendant, the PAUSE pendant and continues to grow with inspired works. Each item comes with a short essay explaining the cause and inspiration behind the original Anne Dale design.

The Jeweler for a Cause Collection is available nationwide through a network of charity associations and retail jewelers while being proudly Made in the U.S.A.

Las Vegas Jewelry Show – Jeweler for a Cause

Other Jewelry Authority Panelists at this JCK workshop:
David Rocha – Jewelers for Children
Russell Simmons – Diamond Empowerment Fund

Year: 2009

Charities strike gold with local jeweler

A Time for Celebration

Immaculee Ilibigiza in New Orleans

Facing Autism Pendant™

Featured Jewelry Authority

Jewelry Authority at JCK Las Vegas Jewelry Show