Bee-ing helpful

Think about it. As consumers, we’re often asked at checkout lines to donate a dollar to one organization or the other. Sometimes we’re asked in other places, too; outside grocery stores, through the mail, perhaps at fairs or other community events. Of all the times you’ve donated, how often did you hear back from the organization to let you know your dollar made a difference?

Many of us in the jewelry industry are lucky enough to say we have, first-hand, seen the difference our dollars make through one organization, Jewelers for Children. JFC regularly invites children who have been touched by the charity’s generosity to speak at industry events, showing us in the most personalized way exactly where our donations went.

It makes people feel good. It makes them believe they can, and do, help to make a difference.

But outside of this, what other times are you granted the opportunity to see the results of your donations? Does the grocery store call you back to tell you that $5 million was donated to the Jimmy Fund? Did the ASPCA email you a bulletin to tell you they fed 10 dogs with your dollar?

I do understand that many organizations have longer-term goals, or put donated funds toward research and are unable to check accomplishments off their lists as quickly as others. My point here is that it’s refreshing and uplifting when I do see donations directly help achieve a greater good, so I was pleasantly surprised when a friend from Gumuchian reached out to me on Wednesday morning to tell me that funds donated from the sale of one of their collections ultimately did just that.

Last spring, Michelle Graff wrote an informative blog on the plight of the honeybee: how colonies are collapsing, hives are failing and bees are dying, as covered in a Swiss documentary called More than Honey. At the end of her blog, she highlighted two brands that were introducing bee-related jewelry designs, the sales of which would profit organizations working to understand and combat the factor contributing to bee colony collapse.

One of these brands was Gumuchian, which debuted its “B” collection at last year’s Couture show. The B collection offers honeycomb-themed jewelry made in 18-karat gold with diamonds, and a proceeds of all sales from the line go to HoneyLove, which champions urban beekeeping and home gardens.