SchoolPower presented its top honor, The Hall of Fame Award, to gorjana on May 31. Owned by LBUSD parents Gorjana and Jason Reidel, this company began supporting SchoolPower in 2014 when their son was in kindergarten.
“When we saw the tremendous impact that SchoolPower had on our schools, we wanted to get involved,” Jason Reidel said.
The Reidels went on to join the Board of Trustees, with Jason eventually serving as vice president of the executive board and Gorjana chairing the annual dinner dance.
“We wanted to make a positive impact on all the children in this community,” Gorjana Reidel said. “What we love about SchoolPower is how it contributes in a very efficient and meaningful way to our schools.”
In 2016, gorjana joined SchoolPower’s Business Alliance and continued to support SchoolPower events. Over the past seven years, gorjana has donated hundreds of pieces of jewelry each year to be used at auctions for local benefits and galas across the country, including SchoolPower’s annual BoxBlitz campaigns and dinner dance
“We all love their jewelry, but their business goes above and beyond the jewelry,” outgoing SchoolPower president Allison Motherway said. “They work so hard to give back and they are an important part of the fabric of the Laguna community.”
The company has included SchoolPower in its “gorjana Gives Back” program in which it co-hosts virtual and in-store fundraising events and donates a percentage of proceeds back to the cause of choice.
The Hall of Fame award, also called the Claes Award, was created in honor of Claes Andersen, owner of the Hotel Laguna and Claes Restaurant. Andersen opened his restaurant to SchoolPower back in 2001 and underwrote an annual dinner for seven consecutive years, in addition to other donations. The Andersen family contributions to SchoolPower totaled over $200,000.
