WALDRON AND RHODES DONATES PORTION OF
DIAMOND SALES TO COMMUNITY PROJECTS IN AFRICA

Rutland’s leading diamond jeweler partners with The Private Collection Of South African Diamond Program and SA Gems to collectively raise $100,000 for six community projects in Africa. RUTLAND, Vt., (Aug. 28, 2007) – Through the auspices of GlobalGiving, a Washington-based organization, Waldron and Rhodes, the region’s leading diamond jeweler, announced that it is one of 38 jewelers nationally to donate a portion of its diamond jewelry sales to specially selected GlobalGiving projects in Africa.

These jewelers, members of The Private Collection Of South African Diamond Program, together with SA Gems, managing partner of the program, have raised $100,000 since the program’s inception in November 2006.

"I traveled to South African last year after receiving a private invitation from DeBeers to tour their world headquarters in Johannesburg and their Finsch Diamond mine just outside of Kimberly," said John Waldron, owner of Waldron and Rhodes on Woodstock Avenue. "As you can imagine, it was an incredible experience, not only to see where some of the world’s finest diamonds originate, but also to learn about the culture and poverty that exists in Africa. It makes you think about how something so precious and expensive can come from a culture that’s struggling to survive. We felt it was only right that we participate in this program."

Waldron and Rhodes is one of three New England jewelers participating in the Socially Responsible Diamond Program. It is the only program of its type in the diamond industry. Through GlobalGiving, donors and other interested parties are able to connect directly to projects in the developing world, making it easy to monitor the impact of the donations.

For example, $15 provides school lunches for 50 children per day and $100 is all it takes to make one Kenyan family energy sufficient for a year. Two projects, one an HIV-AIDS counseling program and the other a new environmentally friendly sanitation system, providing ablution facilities for more than 300 people per day, have been fully funded. Both of these programs are located in South Africa.

Waldron and Rhodes is the region’s most experienced and largest buyer and seller of diamonds and estate jewelry. Established in 1988, it has been voted by its customers, neighbors and friends as the "Best Jeweler in the Greater Rutland Region" for the past 10 years. For more information, visit vermontdiamonds.com or call 800.339.6898.

GlobalGiving, created by two ex-World Bank executives, is successfully leveraging the power of the Internet to connect donors directly with international development projects on a local community level, with more than 90 percent of every donation reaching the project. For more information on the Socially Responsible Diamond Program, visit globalgiving.com/privatecollection.