Below is a touching story of one woman who not only found therapeutic qualitites to jewelry making while in the hospital but realized the importance of paying it forward once she was released.
(Rachel Marolda is close to making her next $10,000 donation and hopes to do so after the holiday season. To order some jewelry that will benefit a great cause, contact her at 617-840-4490 or email crystalsforacause@gmail.com.)
Reading resident and Boston College Junior Rachel Marolda learned to make jewelry in 2006 while recuperating from brain surgery. She eventually made and sold enough jewelry to donate $10,000 to Children’s Hospital Boston, where she was treated. She will make her next $10,000 donation after the holidays.
Marolda had her first brain surgery in 2006, when she was just 14-years-old, to remove a tumor that was sandwiched between her pituitary gland and optic nerve. She became restless while recuperating, so her mother suggested she make jewelry. With help from her mom, and teaching herself basic techniques, Marolda began making earrings, bracelets and necklaces.
After recovering, she started working at a bead store in North Reading, Bett’s Bead Shoppe. Bett taught her new skills, how to perfect what she already knew about jewelry making, and paid her in beads.
Rachel Marolda