Jayden Shippe, an eighth-grader at Akron’s Litchfield Middle School, was one of the first students to take part in the LeBron James Family Foundation’s educational program when it began in 2011.
“It changed a lot because they thought the program really wasn’t gonna work and they wouldn’t find the right people to help with the program, but it actually really expanded to different areas of Akron and they got more people to come in and help a lot,” Jayden said. “It became bigger and bigger over the years, and that’s why we’re here now.”
The foundation announced Friday it will grow even larger with the addition of Akron-based Signet Jewelers as its newest long-term partner for its educational programs.
On top of helping fund the programs, some of Signet’s 3,000 employees will be involved in mentoring about 300 students one-on-one starting in the spring.
David Bouffard, Signet vice president of corporate affairs, said employees had been asking how to get directly involved in the community, so serving as mentors for the foundation provided a perfect opportunity.
“This will give us a chance for employees to get involved at a school level,” Bouffard said. “We always want to go where the needs are.”
Bouffard said the company, which has been based in Akron for more than 100 years, focuses on community outreach to women and children, establishing partnerships around the area with places such as Akron Children’s Hospital and ACCESS women’s shelter.
“What I love about Signet is that Signet knows that our most precious gems that we have are our children. And that is all of our children,” said Cathy Fischer, the vice president of marketing at Signet, at a news conference at Litchfield Middle School on Friday.
Fischer said the company’s mission to “celebrate life and express love” is directly linked to the company’s outreach.
“It’s just embedded within that DNA; we celebrate life and express love. We want to help people have better lives and be happy in those lives,” Fischer said.
Fischer emphasized the partnership will be long-term as mentors work to establish relationships with the students they work with.
Michele Campbell, executive director of the foundation, said Signet is the first company the foundation has partnered with that will participate in the mentorship program, which is facilitated through the United Way of Summit County’s iCARE Mentoring.
“It is our big dream that every child is matched one-to-one, so this is a start for that,” Campbell said.
Signet joins a growing list of the foundation’s partners, most of which are local companies and organizations such as Akron Public Schools, the University of Akron and Little Tikes.
The company is the world’s largest retailer of diamond jewelry and operates nearly 3,600 chain jewelry stores, including Kay Jewelers, Zales and Piercing Pagoda.
The LeBron James Family Foundation’s educational programs began in 2011 with Wheels for Education, which provides support, incentives and mentoring to kids starting in third grade. The programs have since expanded to include Akron I Promise initiative, a similar educational program for kids in sixth grade and higher that eventually leads to a scholarship at UA if the kids complete the program.
The programs serve more than 1,200 Akron-area students in an attempt to target the national dropout issue.
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom.