provided to The Santiva Chronicle

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A new collection created by Mark Loren Designs based on sea oats will benefit Sanibel Island’s Clinic for and Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW), a teaching hospital and visitor education center dedicated to saving wildlife through state-of-the-art veterinary care, research, education and conservation medicine.
“CROW was hit hard and had to move animals off the island and now they need to rebuild their enclosures and other parts of the campus,” said Mark Loren. “Since CROW is animal-related, they may not have access to the funds that some other organizations might.”
A frequent runner along the beach on Sanibel Island, Loren said he has always been intrigued by the sea oats that grow on the dunes. About 10 years ago, he tried to devise a way to replicate the details of the beautiful seed pods in jewelry. When he felt he could not get the look he wanted, he shelved the idea. About two months before Hurricane Ian, Loren was able to get the details he wanted for the collection using a new 3D, high resolution jewelry scanner. He decided to fast-track development of the collection to help after the storm.
The Sea Oats Collection
“We were so fortunate in our store and gallery,” he said. “We are grateful and need to do what we can to help our community.”
The significance of sea oats to Southwest Florida’s islands was not lost on Loren. The long-lived, slow growing, perennial grass is an important plant of the coastal community, protected by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection because of the vital role played in shoreline stabilization, particularly on barrier islands.
Mark Loren Designs is known for creating custom jewelry, so the Sea Oats Collection’s pendants, earrings and rings can be customized in gold or while gold, and with birth stones or other gems.
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