Necklaces show girls' concern for the ailing
Proceeds help pay their medical expenses
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| Photo courtesy Goldenberg family/copyright HOPE4ALL2007 - all rights reserved/ Fallon Goldenberg, a sophomore-to-be at Parkway Central High School, has designed and is selling various versions of a Necklace for Hope to bring attention to various medical and other causes. |
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She knew they needed hope.
"So, last year, I designed a Necklace of Hope to help raise awareness, show support and bring comfort to those who are ill and loved ones," said Fallon, a Creve Coeur resident."Last June I came up with the idea after some people in my family had been afflicted with medical problems. I wanted to create a way to show support and spread awareness of certain causes. I chose a necklace because it hangs close to your heart."
In addition to bringing awareness of medical problems, the necklaces also can celebrate a special occasion such as a birth or a birthday or anniversary.
"I had never had experience making jewelry before, but now I'm making them at my kitchen table," she said. "We go through a supplier to get the raw materials."
Cost for the necklaces is $40 each.
"My mom (Brenda) and I are a partnership in this," Fallon said. "I put them together myself and Mom helps with things like managing the Web site where they're sold, and we run ideas by each other. I enjoy this as a way to help people and make a difference in someone's life, and make a difficult situation a little easier or make a memory to help someone celebrate."
Fallon hand-makes her necklaces with sterling silver and personalizes each with an "affirmation ring" that reads "Hope, Love, Faith, Strength, Courage, Survivor."
She adds Swarovski crystals to represent birthstones and/or a cause color - for example, pink for breast cancer; orange for leukemia and multiple sclerosis; green for the environment; and yellow to support military troops.
She even has created a company, called "Hope by Fallon," with a Web site, www.hopebyfallon.com <http://www.hopebyfallon.com/> .
"Our goal is simple: to change the world, one compassionate heart at a time," Brenda said.
The symbol of a circle is never-ending, and Fallon said it's meant " to represent the circle of support around the loved one or cause in the center, and I design a necklace knowing that we can keep our loved one close to our heart forever."
Brenda said the family has been blessed to be able to donate back to organizations such as the Hope Center at Washington University for Neurological Disorders, the St. Louis ALS Chapter and Gateway to Hope, as well as private fundraising efforts.
For example, Fallon, along with the Dance Bag store in Chesterfield, is using some of the sales proceeds to help Danielle Noot, 13, who was born in Chesterfield but now lives in Texas. Danielle, a competitive dancer, is battling a Schwannoma brain stem tumor and needs funds for her medical and travel expenses to see a New York pediatric brain specialist.
Denise St. Clair Cange, owner of The Dance Bag, is hosting a continuing fundraiser/awareness program for Danielle, who is the daughter of a friend, Nicole Braun.
Braun grew up in Chesterfield and is a graduate of Parkway Central High.
"We're raising money at the Dance Bag to offset some of the family's costs by offering Hope necklaces," Cange said.
The store is located at 64 Four Seasons Shopping Center at Highway 141 and Olive Boulevard and can be contacted at (314) 453-9600.
When Danielle is feeling better, the Dance Bag will find another dancer, a local person, to help support with the effort, Cange said, but in the meantime, "the necklaces already have helped offset costs for Danielle and send positive energy to her from those she doesn't even know."
"To see loved ones wearing our daughter's necklace that she designed out of love, to bring hope to others, is one of those parental moments of pride you cannot put into words," Brenda said.
Other family members are helping Fallon, who also has been active in the student council.
Fallon's dad, Mark, the varsity football coach at Parkway Central, is helping "by being supportive and being a sounding board," Fallon said.
"Thanks to him, we have a male version of the necklace on a leather cord," Fallon said.
Fallon's brothers, Jordan, 13, who is entering eighth grade at Parkway Central Middle School, and Mitchell, 9, who is entering fourth grade at Bellerive Elementary School, have contributed.
"They have fresh ideas for me," Fallon said. "Without family support, I wouldn't be able to do what I do."
The family motto is "with hope, all is possible," Brenda said.
Fallon wants a career where she can help others.
"We've gotten such positive feedback from the necklaces," she said. "People tell me they think the necklaces are a great way to spread awareness, just by letting others ask a question about what a person is wearing."
You can contact Mary Shapiro at mshapiro@yourjournal.com. ?¨
