Rock-It Girl

THE PARTY Founded by the Martin family of Wilmette, the Giving Rocks Foundation hosted its first annual fundraiser, Walk the Beach for Syd Rocks, in New Buffalo, Mich., over the summer. The goal of the event was to raise funds for medical research to discover a cure for Langerhans cell histiocytosis, a rare blood disorder that affects one in 200,000 children each year in the United States. THE HIGHLIGHTS Friends, family and supporters socialized, practiced a little yoga and collected rocks along the beach of Lake Michigan to be used for Syd Rocks necklaces, which Sydney Martin began making after she learned she had the disease at age 10. Proceeds from all necklaces also raise money and awareness for the disease. THE BOTTOM LINE The event raised more than $36,000 and collected more than 8,700 rocks toward this worthy cause. Photography by Josh Dreyfus