Jewelry helping conserve local wildlife in SWFL

Reporter: Jolena Esperto Writer: Paul Dolan
Published: Updated:

When you walk through Mark Loren’s jewelry story, it’s clear he’s got just about everything you could want. He’s got necklaces, earrings, pearl bracelets, rings and more because designing custom jewelry is his art.

“These earrings have the little gold sea oats. These are FOSS carved fossilized mammoth ivory starfish. So, this is Ivory that’s about 50,000 to 100,000 years old, on its way to turning to stone-carved color,” said Loren.

Jewelry helping conservation in SWFL. CREDIT: WINK News

And when he’s not using his art to earn a living, Loren’s using his gift to help others.

“My granddaughter with myself have rescued a couple of birds, we rescued one rabbit took them out to CROW. So, she was able to have that experience and to see what they do out there for the wildlife in our area. And it’s pretty crucial,” said Loren.

So when the Sanibel Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife needed help after Hurricane Ian, Loren came through.

“Contacted me and said, Look, we’re we’ve come up with this beautiful new line Sea Oats collection. And we’d like the proceeds to go to CROW, we were just overwhelmed with their generosity,” said Alison Charney Hussey from CROW.

Earrings that help wildlife conservation. CREDIT: WINK News

“We were able to scan some tiny little seed pods, create them in gold, and we decided to create the sea oats collection. With all the profits going to CROW,” said Loren.

So far, Loren’s sold 19 pieces from his Sea Oats collection which raised $10,000 for CROW.

“His generosity is amazing. And it is it’s a full circle moment for us,” said Hussey.

Loren told WINK News he plans to keep the Sea Oats collection going to help CROW rebuild and take care of the native wildlife.

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