(Press Release)
NEW YORK, NY – Jewelers for Children held its fourth annual Rings of Strength tour on Thursday, June 2 at Mandalay Bay Resort Casino in Las Vegas, NV. More than 160 participants assembled at 5:30 a.m. to either walk or run a 5K, or bike one of two courses, a leisurely 15K route or a challenging 50K route. An option for yoga was also available. Participants who signed up built their own fundraising websites and collected more than $50,000 to support Jewelers for Children.
"It’s truly overwhelming to see so many willing, happy folks turn out at 5:30 a.m. to help support the JFC mission," says Debra Puzio, JFC’s vice president for special programs. “Every year we welcome new people and new companies to this fabulous event and with the success of this year’s event, we have surpassed $ 225,000 in fundraising for JFC."
The event attracted individuals as well as teams of industry supporters. Teams were organized by Quality Gold, Blue Nile, HL Manufacturing, Women’s Jewelry Association, Stuller, Starluxe, JCK, Signet Jewelers, Canada, Bahama Gem, Assurant, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Vicenzaoro, Dean’s Jewelry, BIG, Radiance JD, JCK-JIS-Luxury, Greens Jewelry, BASCH, Nishi Pearls and Bailey, Banks & Biddle.
Sponsors for the event included: JCK Events, JIS Exchange, Blue Nile, Brinks, Assurant, Rio Tinto Diamonds, Freeman Expo Service, Cmac Transportation and Ashi Diamonds.
Jewelers for Children was founded in 1999 by the U.S. jewelry industry with the mission of helping children in need. Since its inception, JFC has donated more than $51 million to programs benefiting children whose lives have been affected by illness, abuse or neglect through our charity partners St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Make-A-Wish America, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the National CASA Association.