Stoughton Woman Selling 'Boston Strong' Jewelry to Help Raise Money for One Fund Boston

After hearing about the Boston Marathon terrorist attacks last month Stoughton native Jessica Ashley Benson, owner of J Ashley Jewelry, knew she wanted to help out in some way.

Benson, who graduated from Stoughton High School in 2008, attended the North Bennett Street School in Boston and studied jewelry making and repair before starting her own company selling handcrafted jewelry.

“I decided that I wanted to do something proactive after the events occurred. It was a horrible tragedy and I knew that One Fund Boston was set up. So I’ve been doing this personalized jewelry for six months and I thought what better way than to wear your pride,” Benson said.

Benson began making hand stamped pendant necklaces that say 'Boston Strong' made of sterling silver and selling them on her website. The necklaces start out at $28 with $5 of the proceeds of each sale going to One Fund Boston.

“Each one is hand stamped so each letter gets put on individually. So it takes a little bit of time but totally worth it,” she said. “It was just something I was trying to think of what kind of fundraiser I could do where my business would donate something and the only thing I could think of would be to actually put Boston Strong on a pendant.”

So far she has raised $275 for One Fund Boston and she is hoping to raise more.

“One of my mother’s friends was in Boston and she was waiting for her husband with her daughters at the finish line and they heard the first bomb go off and they had to sprint and they were quite panicked because they couldn’t find their husband/father. They ended up finding him and everyone was safe so we were just thankful for that,” she said. “So she is probably my biggest supporter of this project.”

Benson said the necklaces can be personalized to include more pendants and charms.

“I actually personalized one this past weekend. I was at a Brewster craft fair and I did one for a US Naval pilot. So she ended up putting her initials on because she was born in Boston and she was in the air when the incident occurred so by the time she landed Boston was in full lock down. So she just wanted to show her hometown pride. So I ended up giving her that pendant for free and she still ended up making the $5 donation to One Fund on her way out,” Benson said.

"Every little bit I’m sure counts because these people are going to have so many expenses and for as long as the fund is open that is as long as I will make them and try to sell them and raise money for them,” she said.

For more information about J Ashley Jewelry or to purchase a necklace visit www.jashleyjewelry.com.