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 Just bring in unwanted, broken or outdated jewelry to the store.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.

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

In this part of the country, many people erect an altar to St. Joseph in their homes, but Anne Dale of Mandeville wanted to share it with her community and customers, so she created the altar in her jewelry store on St. Ann Drive.

“I want to reach out and give back to the community,” Dale said. “St. Joseph is really all about community.”

The altar itself is imposing. Built on three levels, symbolizing the Holy Trinity, the altar not only contained statues of Joseph and Mary, crucifixes and candleabras, but also it was laden with all the wonderful Italian food and pastries. All of Dale’s jewelry cases are covered with Italian flags, and customers and well-wishers wandered around the altar admiring its beauty and all that food.
Shown is the St. Joseph’s altar that was built in the jewelry store of Anne Dale in Mandeville. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

This is the second year Dale has built a St. Joseph’s altar. Last year she put it in her house, then her friend Sandra Scalise convinced Dale to put it in her shop.

“The altar is all about abudanza, abundance,” Scalise said. “It is meant to bring people together, and it is a labor of love.”

Usually, people build an altar to St. Joseph in appreciation of the saint answering their prayers. Dale said she built the altar to “thank him for all my blessings.”

Dale has been a successful businesswoman in Mandeville for 10 years. Originally from New Orleans, she has even started a line of jewelry called “I Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans,” and the proceeds go to help the rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina and to local food banks. Her biggest seller is a silver fava bean necklace. The fava bean is a staple of St. Joseph altars and is meant to bring good luck to those who have one.

Building the altar was a community and family affair. Dale’s husband, Michael, built the three levels, which took about a week. Eight women, including Dale’s mother, Diane Ferrara, cooked all the food, including pasta, meats, cookies, bread and cakes.

“It took us about a month. Everybody made something,” Dale said. “I baked over 3,000 cookies, and my mother made the red gravy.”

She added that customers and friends of all denominations came in to help.

Next to the altar was a framed list of all the people who helped create the altar.

There was also a box for people’s petitions to St. Joseph. Scalise said St. Joseph is a saint “of may hats.” He is the patron saint for the dying, social justice, the worker and the family. The prayers in the petition box were to be taken to St. Joseph’s Abbey.

New Orleans and its environs have many people who celebrate St. Joseph’s Day, but it is in Sicily, Italy, where St. Joseph is really big, according to Dale’s father, Paul Ferrara, a jazz drummer who played with Louis Prima, Al Hirt, and other famous New Orleans’ musicians. His ancestors came from the Sicilian village of Contessa Entellina.

“Half the houses in the town have St. Joseph altars,” Ferrara said.

He said the Greek Orthodox church in the village brings out the statue of St. Joseph, and there is a big parade through the streets all the way to the town’s Catholic church.

Ferrara said there is a band, and at the end of the parade there is a fireworks display.

“Then everyone goes home and eats. The people do not eat meat from the end of Christmas until St. Joseph’s Day,” Ferrara said.

For Dale, the altar is just a way to help others and to bring the community together. Not only does she help out the local food banks and other charities, but traditionally, all the food on the altar is donated to the poor and homeless. Dale said all the food on her altar will go to feed the homeless at Ozanam Inn in New Orleans.

Though St. Joseph’s Day is tomorrow, Dale said that “sadly” she had to take down the altar Saturday night. However, she assures everyone the altar will be rebuilt in her store next year.

 source: Saint Tammany News

KidSense Sensory Playground March 2009

Anne Dale with the amazing LeAnne Cantrell of KidSense the force behind the Nation’s first public-school motor sensory yard for special needs children.

Located in Mandeville, Louisiana between Pontchartrain Elementary and Tchefuncte Middle School, the playground has many purposes.

It is a sensory integration playground designed to help children with autism, ADHD and special needs regain self-control and concentration—and play like everyone else.

The yards are designed with rubber, safety-tile surfacing, making them ADA-accessible. Numerous Braille mosaics also dot the site, large enough to accommodate a full-size “typical” classroom, along with the students from special education classes.

Through the sales of the Facing Autism pendant the Jeweler for a Cause Fund was able to make a generous donation to this worthy project.

Learn more

Anne Dale presents a donation to Louisiana’s Support Our War Heroes from the sales of the Star of Hope Jewelry Collection.

Support Our War Heroes believes all service members in the US military are heroes. The purpose of the foundaton is to assist service members who sustain life altering injuries and to continue to support them into the future, as necessary.

The Star of Hope is one design in the Jeweler for a Cause Collection raising money, awareness and the spirits of people in need.

Anne Dale presents Soldiers’ Angels Greta Perry a donation to help provide assistance to veterans and their families from the sales of the Star of Hope Jewelry Collection.

Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-led nonprofit, that offer over 20 different teams and programs supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces.  Sending letters, care packages, and comfort items to the deployed, and support their families here at home. They also provide assistance to the wounded, continuing support for veterans, remembrances and comfort for families of the fallen, and immediate response to unique difficulties.

The Star of Hope is one design in the Jeweler for a Cause Collection raising money, awareness and the spirits of people in need.

Jeweler for a Cause
The Self-esteem pendant a design that addresses self-confidence issues, also raising money for groups like the Vascular Birthmark Foundation a world wide organization based in New York.

Anne Dale presents a donation for $5000.00, from the sales of the Self-esteem pendant, to the Vascular Birthmark Foundations at their annual conference in Newport Beach, California.

Vascular Birthmark Foundation 

July 7, 2007
Jeweler for a Cause
Father Kyle of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Slidell, Louisiana. The church was totally destroyed by flood water-wind of hurricane Katrina.

Jeweler for a Cause

St. Joseph Abbey Christian Life Center is a nonprofit retreat facility that operates through donations. The Center offers retreats to many Katrina victims. If you are interested in attending or would like to donate for someone to attend,
please contact:

Father Thomas Perrier at

Christian Life Center,
75376 River Road,
St. Benedict, LA 70457
1-985-892-3473,
www.sjasc.edu.

Jeweler for a Cause

Covington Food Bank and All Saints Ministries is providing food, clothing, shelter and other essentials to many Katrina victims. With the influx of thousands of people affected by Katrina within the community, the need has grown dramatically. Covington Food Bank feeds 1600 families. If you would like to donate to their mission please contact Jackie Catanotto at: www.covingtonfoodbank.org,
840 North Columbia Street,
Covington, LA 70433,
1-985-893-3003.

Jeweler for a Cause

Faith Church, a 35,000 square foot facility, now houses several faith-based organizations whose sole purpose is to help those still in need of services as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The remaining church members still in the city meet weekly at two facilities for worship.
To find out more about Faith Church or to give an online donation go to their website at www.faithchurch.com or call them at 504/241-1234.