Jessica Mindich is a former lawyer[1] and the founder and CEO of the Caliber Collection[2] (FKA Jewelry for a Cause),[3][4] which takes guns off streets and transforms them with bullet casings into jewelry and nonprofit donations.[5]

Newark Mayor Cory Booker has teamed up with jewelry designer Jessica Mindich to repurpose some of the guns and bullet casings to create bracelets that raise awareness about gun violence. (COURTESY OF JESSICA MINDICH)
Founder and CEO of the Caliber Collection, formerly known as Jewelry for a Cause.

Caliber Collection

The Caliber Collection began in January 2012 in collaboration with the Mayor of Newark, NJ, Cory Booker, as a way to turn illegal and unwanted guns into jewelry. 20% of the net proceeds are to fund voluntary gun buyback and amnesty programs.[6] Since then, Caliber has partnered additionally with San Francisco, Detroit, Hartford, and most recently North Miami Beach.[7] To date, the programs have taken 2,500 illegal guns off the streets of those cities and has raised over $165,000 for police departments.[8][9]

Gun Buyback and Amnesty Programs

In 2013, Jessica Mindich was able to present the Mayor Booker of Newark, NJ with a check for $40,000, as a result of nine weeks of sales, to fund her first gun buyback and amnesty program in Newark, NJ.[10][11] A second buyback was funded in Newark by Mindich's company in 2014 and collected 185 guns ranging from sniper rifles to assault weapons.[12]

In 2016, Mindich donated $25,000 to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office in Michigan to buyback 500 guns.[13]

Caliber Foundation

The Caliber Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) organization that supports victims and communities affected by illegal gun violence.[8]

Notable Contributors

In 2014, Serena Williams and the Serena Williams Fund announced a grant to the Caliber Foundation to prevent young people from experiencing the same pain Williams' had through the murder of her sister in 2003.[14]

In 2016, street artist Shepard Fairey donated 20% of sales from his art exhibit at the Library Street Collective in Detroit, MI.[15] In July 2016, Fairey also dedicated a portion of the proceeds of the sale from his gun control American Civics collaboration with photographer Jim Marshall to the Caliber Foundation.

Raise The Caliber

Mindich is also the founder of the Raise The Caliber initiative, a national advocacy campaign to end illegal gun violence. Proceeds from partnerships under Raise The Caliber are donated to the Caliber Foundation.[16]

Journalism

In 2016, Mindich became a frequent Huffington Post journalist creating a series of interviews under the title YOU CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Interviews included men and women who are leaders, activists and influencers on the subject of gun violence in America.[17]

References

  1. ↑ Dunne, Allison (13 November 2015). "51% Show #1373". www.wamc.org.
  2. ↑ "Get $50 for a gun at Detroit buy-back that makes bracelets out of bullets". mlive. June 10, 2016.
  3. ↑ Agrawal, A. J.; Marketer, ContributorGrowth (August 21, 2015). "The Top 4 Jewelry Companies That Give Back". HuffPost. {{cite web}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ Nelson, Rebecca (2013-01-29). "Jewelry Designer Jessica Mindich: Fighting Gun Violence With Bracelets | TIME.com". Style.time.com. Retrieved 2015-08-12.
  5. ↑ Gull, Nicole (May 7, 2012). "Fighting Crime With Jewelry". Inc.com.
  6. ↑ America, illegal guns in some of the toughest cities in (March 15, 2016). "We Need to Talk to People We Disagree With About Fighting Gun Violence says Interview No. 7 Anel Lopez Gorham by Jessica Mindich". HuffPost.
  7. ↑ "North Miami Beach to work with firm to turn guns into baubles | Miami Herald". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2016-05-28.
  8. 1 2 "Calibercollection.com". www.calibercollection.com.
  9. ↑ "Chris Murphy: Stop Blaming Gun-Violence on Mental Illness, America is Awash in Guns". HuffPost. March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Caliber Collection fashions jewelry to take guns off the streets". Christian Science Monitor. February 11, 2013.
  11. ↑ Kuruvilla, Carol. "Newark Mayor Cory Booker backs gun-awareness jewelry line made from confiscated guns and crime-scene bullet casings". nydailynews.com.
  12. ↑ NJ.com, Naomi Nix | NJ Advance Media for (February 15, 2014). "Newark gun buyback program to turn weapons into jewelry". nj.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ "The Gun Report: March 21, 2014". March 21, 2014.
  14. ↑ Foundation, The Caliber. "The Serena Williams Fund Partners With The Caliber Foundation To End Illegal Gun Violence In America". www.prnewswire.com.
  15. ↑ Stryker, Mark. "Shepard Fairey donating Detroit art sales to gun buyback". Detroit Free Press.
  16. ↑ America, illegal guns in some of the toughest cities in (April 8, 2016). "'Murder is My Beat, Sadly I Make a Living From It.' Meet LAPD Detective John Skaggs". HuffPost.
  17. ↑ America, illegal guns in some of the toughest cities in (April 15, 2016). "Filmmaker Abigail Disney advises 'When a film relies on violence for entertainment, walk out.' Interview No. 12". HuffPost.
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