Charitable Gift Giving

Helzberg Diamonds has been kind enough to offer to give one complete set of the three pieces shown below to one lucky reader! To be eligible for the drawing, just click the Facebook “Like” button on the right side of this page and then post a comment here saying how you’ll be incorporating charitable giving in your Christmas and holiday gift giving this year. I’ll announce the winner shortly, along with the winner of the charity wine giveaway! (Sorry, no diamonds, but still a value of over $200 nonetheless!)

Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of Dorothy Hamill in the mid-1970’s skating perfect routine after perfect routine. I remember watching with my family as she accepted the gold medal for women’s singles in Innsbruck in 1976. Looking back, she was perhaps the last figure skater from a simpler time–before tire irons to the knees, tabloid headlines, and multi-million dollar contracts. She was just “American’s Sweetheart”.

In the years following her success as World Champion and Olympic Champion, Dorothy Hamill went on to skate professionally in shows and serve as a skating commentator and mentor to up-and-coming skaters. She’s achieved every plateau a figure skater can reach, having been inducted into the United States and the World Figure Skating Halls of Fame.

In 2008, she announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Happily, she has since made a full recovery.

Recently, a representative from Helzberg Diamonds contacted me to tell me about a new product line. It’s called the “Love, Help, & Hope” collection. It’s a collection of beautiful jewelry created by Dorothy Hamill herself after her own personal experience with the disease, and intended to bring awareness to breast cancer, which millions of woman still battle every day nationwide.

The collection is beautiful, and ranges in price from $79.99 for some elegant sterling silver pieces (pictured below) to $1999.99 for a stunning 1 carat total weight piece shaped like a heart with a ribbon inside. A portion of the proceeds from the “Love, Help & Hope” collection will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Helzberg sent me a few samples of their $79.99 sterling silver and rhodium pieces. There’s a necklace shaped like a charity ribbon with a rhodium band that’s a pinkish, golden color on a delicate 18 inch box chain:

There’s also a beautiful pair of sterling silver earrings with the same charity ribbon pattern:

And finally, a beautiful ring with the charity ribbon.

The pieces were beautiful, brilliant, and solid. The designs were simple and elegant enough to complement just about any outfit. And of course, they serve as a powerful statement–that while breast cancer is still a scourge that affects 1 in 8 women nationwide, with early detection, regular mammograms, and the newest methods of treatment and support more and more women are beating it. But awareness and donations are critically needed more than ever.

You can view all the pieces (including the exquisite heart and diamond pendants) athttp://helzberg.com/dorothy. If you prefer, you can purchase any other item from Helzberg Diamonds, and add a $5 donation to your shopping cart from this page.

As Christmas shopping season gets underway, consider these pieces of jewelry. Not only are they stunningly beautiful, if they can remind one woman to get checked early, or remind one person of the importance of supporting charities looking for a cure for cancer, there aren’t many more meaningful gifts you can give.