BeadforLife party helps lift women out of poverty

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BeadforLife party helps lift women out of poverty

By Victoria Gomelsky

October 14, 2009

BeadforLife helps connect two cultures, a selling point for Steven Goldfarb, who considers the partnership a natural fit between jewelers.

Bellevue, Wash.--In keeping with its reputation as an upscale jewelry retailer in the Seattle area, Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler sells the usual suspects. The showcases hold gemmy cocktail rings by Gumuchian, 18-karat gold bangles by Rhonda Faber Green and strands of pearls by Mikimoto, not to mention a prestigious selection of watches from the likes of Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai.

During the last week of July, however, the average price point of the merchandise sold at both of the company's stores, in Bellevue and downtown Seattle, dipped considerably lower than what would be expected of the brands named above. It even got as low as $5.

But it's not what you're thinking. This was no fire sale or last-ditch effort to clear out aging, tired goods. It was, in fact, a party.

Owners Steven and Fredda Goldfarb hosted a weeklong gathering for BeadforLife, a five-year-old nonprofit that sells beaded jewelry made by women in the slums of Kampala--Uganda's capital city--to consumers in the United States.

"It's very affordable jewelry, from $5 to $30," says Heather Ditillo, North American program director for BeadforLife, which is based in both its hometown of Kampala, and Boulder, Colo. "We keep it that way because our mission is to create sustainable opportunities for women in Uganda and to eradicate poverty. So we didn't want to set the price point too high."

The oblong-shaped beads are made of recycled paper (taken from print overruns of materials such as calendars, posters and pamphlets) and shellac, and strung together to form bracelets and necklaces that look like Technicolor strands of confetti, all but obscuring their lack of preciousness.

"I couldn't take my eyes off the beads," says Fredda Goldfarb of the moment when she first encountered BeadforLife at the Northwest Catholic Women's Conference this past spring. "They're so beautiful and colorful. When I heard the story about this nonprofit--that it created a way for women to lift themselves out of poverty--I thought, 'We have to find a way to collaborate.'"

More than 70 percent of BeadforLife's revenue comes from bead parties held by volunteers at homes, churches and community organizations across the country. According to Ditillo, about 100,000 people attend BeadForLife's events every year.

"It's a modern-day Tupperware party," Ditillo says. "The most important part isn't the beads but the story. About 5,000 Ugandans are being supported by this program."

In addition to generating income for impoverished communities, the organization helps beaders set up savings accounts, which they can use to buy homes or start their own businesses.

"Some of these women have never even stepped foot in a bank," Ditillo says. "We're so pleased to see we're meeting those needs."

Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler is the first fine jeweler to host a BeadforLife event, but Ditillo hopes it won't be the last. From the Goldfarbs' perspectives, the partnership is a natural fit.

"It's jewelers helping jewelers," Steven Goldfarb says. "It's about connecting with people halfway around the world. People love it. It's such a happy, happy event."

Beyond its role as a fundraiser, the weeklong bead party, which culminated with a VIP reception on Thursday, July 30, was also an excellent team-building exercise.

"Our people felt really enthused," Fredda Goldfarb says. "It was an amazing project. They felt good about being in the jewelry industry."

To help build excitement in their community, the Goldfarbs filled the windows of both stores with beads, drawing in loads of passersby who might otherwise have kept walking.

"The windows downtown were so colorful and beautiful, it literally grabbed them in," Steven Goldfarb says. "The whole community felt good about helping and buying."

So popular were the beads that the Goldfarbs had to call twice to get more shipments.

When it came time for the VIP reception, three singing and drumming Ugandan nuns who happened to be studying in Seattle provided the entertainment. Another special guest, Theresa Morrow, a journalist for The Seattle Times who'd spent time in Uganda, also attended the party, promising to bring photos of the event back to Kampala to show the beaders.

"She told us she was excited to share the photos with the women in Uganda," Steven Goldfarb says. "Their vision of us is that we can have anything we want, so the fact that we've chosen to wear their beads is very special."

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