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LUXURIOUS BEAR ESSENTIALS
Julie Beran Lamarre is a young, dynamic entrepreneur who has turned a love for fur teddy bears into an environmentally friendly cottage industry entirely produced in the U.S.
Julie's inspiration came when, as a teenager poking around a garage sale, she found an old fur coat and thought what a soft teddy bear it would make. Later, she took bear-making classes and her inspiration became a reality. She began making one-of-a-kind bears and sold them locally. After her divorce, she needed a way to support her family and still find a way to stay home with her daughter so the bears went from an avocation to a true business.
Each bear from Bella Bear Company is uniquely designed with its own "personality" by Julie herself and then handcrafted by her team. The furs used are all recycled and they are cut into one of the Bella Bear Company's signature sizes. Julie even helps clients decide what size will best fit their type of fur to avoid tiny "puffball" bears.
Customers love their bears so much that they come back for more. Julie has hundreds of stories about how her bears have become a "remembrance of a person," or how the bears have become integral parts of family gatherings.
Bella Bears have become a must have item not only for those wanting to recycle their furs, but also as affordable luxury gifts. Bella Bears will be part of the In Circle program offered by Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus which allows customers to purchase the decadent espresso mink bear. It is available exclusively through the points program in the classic 16" and large 24" size.
- Carly Zinderman
For more visit: www.bellabearco.com
DREAMS DO COME TRUE
Jemma Jacques is a 29 year old who resides in Los Angeles. Her travels to third world countries, over the past ten years, were the inspiration to found the non-profit organization Dreams Can Come True.
Dreams Can Come True (DCCT) is Jemma's way of helping people around the world. The mission of the organization is to provide motivation and education to people all over the world, no matter what their age, as well as to find fresh and creative approaches to self-sustainability and economic growth.
Jemma's favorite project is working with a Buddhist monk in Thailand who opened the doors of the monastery to serve as an orphanage for 880 abandoned and orphaned children from ages 5-18. The monk supports the children's needs by offering advice and blessings to locals in exchange for food, water and other donations that he passes along to the children. The monk is able to keep the children fed and sheltered but is in need of an education center to teach them skills and trades that they can use when they leave the orphanage.
To help the monk's efforts, Jemma is hosting a silent auction in May at the Beverly Hilton that will offer paintings created by elephants that live in a camp near the orphanage. All proceeds raised by the auction will help fund DCCT and the orphanage. In September, DCCT will also offer a trip for volunteers to help teach the kids skill sets, to enable them to find work in trades after they leave the orphanage and avoid becoming homeless or having to enter the sex-trade industry.
The DCCT website allows anyone, anywhere in the world to have a dream and in turn offers people everywhere the opportunity to make those dreams come true. Whether the dream is building an education center for an orphanage in Thailand or providing fresh drinking water to children in Cambodia, the website gives people the ability to change lives. The Thailand trip will also be the subject of a documentary that seeks to teach people about the needs of the third-world.
- Carly Zinderman
For more information on Dreams Can Come True please visit www.dcct.org
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