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Press Release: Jewelers for Children (JFC) held the inaugural Rings of Strength Tour on Thursday, May 30, at Mandalay Bay Resort Casino in Las Vegas. More than 180 participants assembled at 5:30 a.m. to either walk or run 5K, or bike one of two courses, a leisurely 15K route or a challenging 50K route. Participants who signed up built their own fundraising websites and collected nearly $40,000 to support JFC. "It was so gratifying to see people just keep coming and coming so early in the morning to participate and unite as an industry for such an important cause," said Rebecca Foerster, a JFC board member who conceived the idea for the event. Participant Stuart Marcus said, "We are an industry of great heart and emotion. Seeing 170 people at 5:30 in the morning ready to run, walk and bike in support of others is awe inspiring. Next year it will be an even bigger and better event. I once was at an event where Leonard Florence said 'If you don’t have time give money, if you don’t have money give time, but you can always give. ''I look forward to seeing even more members of the trade making plans to give, have fun and participate next year." The event attracted individuals, as well as teams, of industry supporters. Teams were organized by Malca-Amit, Brinks, Blue Nile, Coast Diamond, Rio Tinto, JCK and CASA Volunteers of Las Vegas to name a few. The event kicked off with a welcome from Foerster, JFC's executive director, David Rocha, Caleen Johnson, the executive director of the Make-A-Wish Nevada and Sheila Parks and Justice Frank Sullivan of Clark County Courts, representing CASA of Las Vegas. Sponsors for the event included Tag Heuer, JCK Events, Blue Nile, Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, Malca-Amit, Brinks, Jewelry Creations, Rio Tinto Diamonds, Harmon Group, Cedarwood Companies, Freeman Expo Service, and CASA of Las Vegas. Foerster was assisted on the event by a committee of industry leaders including Harvey Kanter of Blue Nile, Marcus of Direct Partners, Bill Furman of JCK Magazine, Rick Arnemann of the Harmon Group, Patrick Drummond of Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, Angela Fry of American Gem Society and Don Jopling of Precision Set. The 2014 Tour will be held on Thursday, May 29, at Mandalay Bay. 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 $43 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®, the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the National CASA Association. JFC also provides support to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® International, and the Santa-America Fund. This nationwide success is due to the continuing generosity of jewelry trade organizations, jewelry and watch manufacturing companies, jewelry retail stores, individual jewelry professionals, and jewelry consumers.
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