The Jewelers Charity Fund raised a record-breaking $2.6 million this year to help support the work of several children’s funds both in the United States and abroad.

Victor Weinman, JCF chairman, and Patricia Light, JCF executive director, made the announcement during the organization’s annual Facets of Hope dinner, held Sunday, June 2, at the Mirage Hotel and Casino ballroom, part of the 2002 JCK Show ~ Las Vegas.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., two long-time recipients of JCF donations, will each receive $600,000.

The contribution to Make-A-Wish will continue to help the organization grant wishes for terminally ill children. JCF, to date, has funded 200 of these wishes. The donation to St. Jude’s will go toward the continued support of the Jewelers Charity Fund for Children Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic. 2001 marked the completion of JCF’s $1.5 million endowment of the clinic.

The largest recipient of JCF donations this year will be the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Foundation, which will receive $912,500 to help fund two separate projects. A total of $562,500 will be used to fund fellowships for physicians at the network’s five academic medical institutions. Another $350,000 has been donated to the foundation to fight mother-to-child transmission of the AIDS virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo. JCF is the first founding member of the foundation.

Other recipients include the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, which will receive $250,000, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of India, which will receive $250,000 to fund 5,000 wishes, Weinman says. One of the highlights of the evening was a taped greeting from Mandela thanking JCF for its contribution.

Twenty-eight underwriters donated a total of $1.6 million. The year’s major sponsor was the De Beers Group. Other sponsors contributing $100,000 or more were Leo Schachter Diamonds, M. Fabrikant & Sons, Clyde Duneier Inc., and Rosy Blue Inc.

JCK