By Shaun Ryan<\/p>\n
Several local charities and the people they serve will benefit from the efforts of a hardworking group of area women and a prominent local business that supports them.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 20, the Underwood Jewelers Ponte Vedra store hosted its annual trunk show to benefit charities and scholarships supported by The Ponte Vedra Woman\u2019s Club. The event raised $21,200, the highest amount ever for this particular fundraiser.<\/p>\n
Store Manager John Rutkowski presented a check to the club on Thursday, March 19.<\/p>\n
The club received a portion of the sales from the trunk show and also benefitted from a raffle the store conducted. Underwood Jewelers raffled off two elegant pieces of designer jewelry: a Roberto Coin Venetian Princess Diamond Necklace and Platinum Born Saturn Collection earrings. According to the club, the total value of these pieces was more than $4,200.<\/p>\n
The funds raised by this event bring the total amount generated by the club this fiscal year to $107,000, the most for any year going back to the local club\u2019s founding in 1970.<\/p>\n
At a time when charitable funds across the board appear to be shrinking, the Ponte Vedra Woman\u2019s Club is actually seeing increases.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s no accident. Rutkowski praised the club members who worked hard to ensure the success of the trunk show and called it a privilege to work with such a group.<\/p>\n
The store is known for its support of worthy local causes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important to us to give back to the community,\u201d said Rutkowski. \u201cIt really is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the club is all-volunteer, nearly all funds raised go directly to the charities and scholarships. Charities are selected every two years. The beneficiaries of this event are:<\/p>\n
Betty Griffin Center: Offers shelter and services for victims of domestic violence and\/or sexual assault.<\/p>\n
BEAM:\u00a0Helps low-income residents in Jacksonville\u2019s beach communities.<\/p>\n
Mission House: Helps to meet the needs of the homeless population at the Beaches.<\/p>\n
Port in the Storm: The only homeless youth shelter in St. Johns County for ages 18-24.<\/p>\n
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind:\u00a0Educates students from all over Florida, tuition-free, who are deaf\/hard of hearing, blind\/visually impaired, or deaf and blind. This is a long-term recipient of club support.<\/p>\n
At more than 200 members, the Ponte Vedra Woman\u2019s Club continues to grow. To learn more about the club, go to pontevedrawomansclub.com.<\/p>\n
The local Underwood Jewelers store is located at 330 A1A N., Suite 204, Ponte Vedra Beach. Learn more at underwoodjewelers.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Shaun Ryan Several local charities and the people they serve will benefit from the efforts of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-207069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}