BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — Maria Jewelers is holding its second annual First Responders Weekend Appreciation Sale from Dec. 12-13 and providing a 30% discount to all responders and their immediate family. Maria Jewelers is located at 231 S. 8th St. in Opelika — for more information, call 334-704-0009.
Co-owner Cody Foote said he and his wife, co-owner Maria Foote, had the idea for the appreciation sale last year when reflecting on the sacrifice of first responders — and looking for a way to give back.
“Last year, we were watching some news events about first responders and some heroic things that they were doing, and what all the military was doing — and we just said, ‘We can’t go out there and shake hands with all of them and say, Thank you, thank you, thank you,’” he said. “So we were talking about what we can do to show that we appreciate [their sacrifice]. Maria said, ‘Well, just have an appreciation day.’ So I said, ‘Well, how about appreciation week or weekend from your jewelry store?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I like that.’”
Cody said in the first year of the sale, he learned how many professions the term first responder includes, and saw the impact of the sale on a local responder.
“We had one guy, who was a policeman, who came in while the sale was still in effect, and he said, ‘I just proposed to my girlfriend, and I was looking for some jewelry. And then while I’m thinking about where to go, somebody handed me the flyer,’” he said. “He got his wife her wedding band, her engagement ring and so on. I was amazed by how many people really qualify to be first responders — doctors, nurses, medical professionals, firemen, policemen and even pastors.”
Maria said this year, she and Cody began dropping off fliers for the sale at local first responder stations, and that they were gladly helped by the management to spread news about the sale to employees.
“We went to the fire department [in Opelika] and then went to the Auburn one,” she said. “[When we stopped by] all the people, they’re so nice that they’re willing to say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it — just give us a flyer, and we’ll scan it, and we’ll email it to everybody — so you don’t have to hand it out to everyone.’ And that was great.”
Brightening days through diamonds, Maria said she enjoys meeting responders in the community who are buying gifts for family or themselves, and helping people choose the perfect gift for every occasion and loved one.
“I’m hoping for the best for everyone,” she said. “I enjoy helping them with their gifts for their family, and getting a chance to meet some of the people that I haven’t met — they’ll come here and introduce themselves. Just this morning, I had [a customer] I had never met. He’s a lieutenant in Auburn, and he came down here — he said he got the email, and he just came to look at the place and introduce himself. And he said, ‘I’ll be back.’ [The sale] is giving us the chance to see and meet other people that we haven’t met.”
Cody said the First Responders Sale is a way to say “thank you” to local first responders for all they do for the community, and he hopes that responders will visit Maria Jewelers Dec. 12-13.
“First responders are serving for us,” he said. “Really for me personally. If somebody provides a service, just like if somebody holds the door open for you, you say ‘Thank you.’ It’s almost automatic that we want to show respect, show appreciation for what people do above and beyond just the normal things that you’re required to do. And now it may be their job to do that, but when there’s a fire, responders run to the fire. All the rest of us run away from the fire, and they run to danger. So what they’re doing is stepping between us and danger, and the least we could do is figure out a way to say thank you — and this is our way.”
