Shortly after the September 11 attacks more than 13 years ago, North Shore jeweler Glenn Bradford decided to join the relief effort.
Roughly three weeks after two Roslyn firefighters and a police officer died while responding to the falling World Trade Center, Bradford cut checks to the local fire departments that were split between the grieving families.
As New York continued to recover that spring, Bradford and his then-Village of Roslyn shop partnered with the early incarnation of the Manhasset-based Tuesday’s Children to provide relief and funding to the sons and daughters of Long Islanders who died in the attacks.
Bradford enlisted his clients in both instances to donate a portion of their purchases toward his cause, a tactic he has utilized in his philanthropic efforts ever since.
“What happened was, we raised a substantial amount of money for Tuesday’s Children that put them on the map,” said Bradford, who now operates a shop with his wife Sharyn in Port Washington.
“It was a total grassroots effort,” he added. “We began doing more of them semi-annually, for the [2004 Thailand] tsunami. It’s just gotten bigger and bigger every year.”
Bradford called the annual event “Shop for Charity,” and this year has organized 19 local charities to feature various raffles and donation opportunities that he said could raise more than $50,000.
“We live and breathe philanthropy,” Bradford said. “It’s in our business DNA and it’s in our personal DNA.”
The charities involved are: Community Chest of Port Washington, Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, Friends of the Port Washington Library, Friends of the Sands Point Preserve, the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club, Hearts of Port Washington, Landmark on Main Street, the Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation, the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency, the Nassau County Museum of Art, NCRT of Glen Cove, the Nicholas Center for Autism/The Spectrum Designs Foundation, the Port Washington Children’s Center, the Port Washington Education Foundation, the Port Washington Library Foundation, the Port Washington Parks Conservancy, Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington, Tuesday’s Children and the Women’s Fund of Long Island.
The event began on Nov. 15 and will run through Christmas Day.
During Shop for Charity, Bradford will be donating 10 percent of sales from his shop’s “Buddha,” “Love Locket” and “Diamond Dust” collections, 5 percent of other sales, 25 percent of Bradford’s e-gift cards and Sharyn’s fine art as well as 100 percent of the event’s raffle for various prizes. Raffle tickets are $25 each or five for $100.
The raffles will be drawn during a Dec. 3 cocktail event at Bradford’s shop at 279 Main St. in Port Washington from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“This is all about local charity and local Main Street being a winning formula for a healthy, vibrant and philanthropic community for us to raise our families. We’re all in this together,” Bradford said.
