BANDOH Jewelry Launches Month-Long Partnership For Suicide Awareness

The girl behind the pearl, Diana Bandoh, is launching a monthly initiative highlighting a different social cause. Kicking this off will be BANDOH Jewelry’s month-long focus on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) through Diana’s social media platforms.

“We want to build a sense of community,” said Diana, “and open the floor to others to talk more about how suicide has impacted them, while increasing awareness about an organization working to save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide.”

Diana decided to collaborate with AFSP upon receiving news of her friend’s son, Avery Isaiah Watkins, taking his own life. He was 21 and a student at Texas Tech University.

“I have been close to many people over the years – friends, co-workers, immediate family – who personally struggle with suicidal thoughts, or have lost a spouse, sibling or parent to suicide,” said Diana. “Avery’s suicide left a different impact than the others because it was the first time one of my girlfriends lost a child.”

Since Diana started her business to both empower women and create a way for her to help hurting people, she took the unfortunate event as a sign to reach out to AFSP and make giving a permanent part of her business.

“BANDOH Jewelry will start highlighting organizations I have personally selected because of their integrity and the work they do to help others, particularly women and children. Multiple sources indicate that suicide rates are rising fastest among women, so I see this first cause as one everyone can identify with and I could not be more pleased to donate a portion of proceeds from Pearls and Stones by DB and The Bandoh Collection moving forward.”

Until the end of March, 21 percent of all net proceeds from purchases of BANDOH will be donated to the Avery’s Light Lives On memorial fund at AFSP in honor of his 21 years of life. BANDOH will also use the hashtag #beautifuljewelrywithheart to express with the team’s new mandate on all of its social accounts.

Diana also encourages those able to make donations directly to Avery’s Memorial Fund at AFSP to visit here or find the link on Instagram.

Pearls and Stone by DB and The Bandoh Collection are sold on the official BANDOH website, and can also be found on Etsy. Follow Diana and her adventures on Facebook.

Featured Image Courtesy of BANDOH Jewelry.