
Submitted by SchoolPower:
Fredric H Rubel Jewelers has received SchoolPower’s Hall of Fame Award, recognizing 10 years of commitment to the Laguna Beach Education Foundation and Laguna Beach public schools.
“Their Laguna Beach business has generated over $75,000 for SchoolPower since 2004 through generous donations,” said Mike Austin, who headed SchoolPower’s Business Alliance last year.
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Family-owned and operated for three generations, Rubel Jewelers is owned by Laguna Beach residents Gary and David Rubel. According to David, contributing to education is an easy business decision for the brothers. “Supporting SchoolPower is a no-brainer for us because we feel so lucky to be part of this community,” he said.
Donating to the schools is also a natural choice as their children attended Laguna’s schools. David and wife Kerry’s children, Mike, 21, and Evan 19, are now both enrolled the College of Charleston. Gary and wife Belinda’s daughter Claire is working in Los Angeles after recently graduating from Emory University; their youngest, Charlotte, is a sophomore at LBHS. “Many parents are invested in the school system here, which is what makes it work so well,” said Rubel. “The parents care, and as a result, the kids care. You see it – the sustained excellence.”
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The Hall of Fame Award - also known as the Claes Anderson Award – was created to recognize long-term excellence. It was first given in 2006 to Andersen, whose generosity as owner of Hotel Laguna raised the bar for philanthropic support of Schoolpower. Subsequent recipients include Don Crevier (2007), David Wilhelm and Philo Smith (2008), Hearts of Montage (2009), David Wilson of Wilson Automotive Group (2010), Laguna Graphic Art’s Ali and Arash Rounaghi (2011) and the Lumberyard’s Cary and Suzanne Redfearn (2011).
Rubel said that his business’ support for SchoolPower will continue for years to come. “It is such an easy relationship with SchoolPower,” he said. “Everyone is invested in the same thing. Everyone is pulling in the same direction.”
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