Top Philanthropic Women for Vegas Gives

ON CAROLINE CIOCCA: Vintage diamond locket pendant ($14,000), drop earrings ($18,900), strings necklace ($12,950), opera-length necklace ($8,700), octagon pendant ($5,750), hearts pendant ($4,050), and art deco ring ($7,900); Brocade diamond bracelet ($80,000), all by Kwiat. ON ELIZABETH BLAU: 24.31 carat Lucky diamond necklace ($152,000), 35.39 carat Moonlight diamond bracelet ($148,000), two Riviera diamond line bracelets ($86,100 and $33,400), and Lucky diamond earrings ($6,900), all by Kwiat. ON TARISSA TIBERTI: Crochet diamond necklace ($16,100) and bracelet ($23,000); two Strings diamond necklaces ($50,800 and $43,000); Fancy diamond necklace ($35,700); River diamond necklace ($5,800); diamond hoop earrings ($45,200); two Riviera diamond line bracelets ($27,200 and $21,800); and Whisper diamond bracelet ($40,100), all by Kwiat.

THE WORD WIZARD
Caroline Ciocca (LEFT) knows about life’s essentials: air, water, and a really good book. “Imagine your house without a single book in it,” she says. “That’s the reality for many homes in Nevada.” And that’s why she became determined to help every child start building his or her own home library and joined forces with Spread the Word Nevada. “Spread the Word not only provides books for kids,” says SuperPawn’s director of community relations, “they also have Books & Buddies, where people can volunteer to read to kids.” Ciocca’s passion for reading was fired up after watching her two stepchildren, ages 9 and 11, learn to read. (She now thinks it’s a shame that during her own childhood in Massachusetts, she was more likely to read a magazine than a book.) “That reminded me how precious that is,” she says. “I believe something magical happens when a child is able to read and share those amazing stories with their families and friends.” Reading can also be pretty fun, something she’s learned during her hours of volunteer work with the kids. “We do Rebel Reading Challenge with UNLV athletics and bring kids facing hard times to the Thomas & Mack Center,” says the longtime Vegas resident. “It’s thrilling to sit in an arena with 7,000 kids cheering because they’re excited about reading.” Sounds like a win-win.

TEACHER’S HELPER
Elizabeth Blau (CENTER) tells the story of one special third grader and how it solidified her loyalty to Communities in Schools. “This child was going to be held back a grade because everyone thought he was having learning issues,” she says. “Then this organization took him for a simple eye test. All he needed was a pair of glasses to see the blackboard.” That little boy and countless others have been helped by the group, which works with school administrations to provide basic services to students who need them. “If you go to school sick, you can’t focus,” says the longtime Wynn Las Vegas food and beverage executive. “But in many families, taking a child to the doctor means they can’t pay the rent that month. We try to help.” The group also works with Three Square’s BackPack for Kids program, which sends kids who lack adequate provisions home with a bag packed with nutritious food for their weekends. Communities in Schools has a reputation for hands-on programs that address needs and delivers the necessary resources. “We do a lot of mentoring and coaching,” she says. “It’s really grass roots with this organization, which is what I really love.” The proud mom to an 8-year-old will do whatever it takes to prevent school drop-outs. “I’m a firm believer,” she says, “that giving a child a solid education gives them a chance for life.”

MASTER OF ARTS
Tarissa Tiberti (RIGHT) wants to get to the art of the matter. After working in the competitive art gallery scene in New York City for three years, she moved back to her hometown of Las Vegas to become the manager of the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts (BGFA). There she quickly noticed that kids in this city didn’t have much fine art in their lives. Enter Modern Council, a fine-art affinity program she developed; 20 percent of the group’s membership fee is donated to the Public Education Foundation to bring students at in-need schools to the BGFA. “We asked teachers, ‘What do we have to do to get you to come here?’” says Tiberti, who is also an artist herself, concentrating in sculpture. “The teachers told us that the bus was the most expensive thing. So we said, ‘We’ll pay for your bus and give you free admission.’” Ask her why art is so crucial when so many kids are having enough trouble with reading and math, and she doesn’t hesitate with an answer. “We want to teach kids to think outside the box,” she says. “I want all children to be able to express themselves, and for some kids, it might not be through words. Kids get so much from art: Being creative allows freethinking, and with freethinking, the possibilities are endless.”

Star diamond necklace ($29,500), bracelet ($18,200), and ring ($7,500); Jasmine diamond bracelet ($14,600); and Evergreen diamond earrings ($17,100), all by Kwiat

DOGS’ BEST FRIEND
Jillian Plaster loves being sent to the doghouse: Along with her husband, Ian Kester, she owns The Dog House boutique in Town Square, which sells everything pooch, including her own line, The Good Dog Food Company.

Because of her passion for her four-legged friends (including “son” Trucker, an English bulldog), Plaster is an avid supporter of The Animal Foundation, which takes in 50,000 animals a year. They also provide low-cost neutering, as well as community outreach programs that teach people how to train their pets. “If people would just neuter their pets,” she says, “there wouldn’t be such a problem.”

As a kid, Plaster did not seem destined for dog devotion. “I never had a dog as a child,” she says. “In fact, I was afraid of them because a big dog chased me when I was little. Trucker changed that for me. Now, my whole world is about dogs.” And she knows you can teach dogs new tricks. “Trucker used to grab my bras and pull the underwire out,” she says. “He doesn’t do that anymore, which proves that you can work it out with your dog. You just need to put in a little time and love.”

ON LIZ LESSER: 31.45 carat Riviera oval diamond necklace ($251,000), 8.53 carat Legacy diamond earrings ($106,000), and Whisper diamond bracelet ($40,100), all by Kwiat. ON VICTORIA OTTER: 52.74 carat Legacy diamond necklace ($358,000); American Beauty button earrings ($39,100); and two Riviera diamond line bracelets ($27,200 and $21,800), all by Kwiat

A NEW KIND OF PROM QUEEN
Liz Lesser’s “sweet baby girl” is many years away from going to her own high school dances, but Mom is elbow-deep in prom preparation anyway.

Lesser is part of a group called Joy Prom Las Vegas, which is dedicated to bringing the high school tradition to groups such as Down Syndrome Organization of Southern Nevada, Good Friends, Holdsworth, New Vista, Opportunity Village, Pinnacle Services Community, and REM. The next event will be held this coming May at M Resort. “It is a quintessential prom for teenagers and adults with cognitive and physical impairments,” she says. “Every guest is celebrated and accepted.”

Lesser got involved with Joy Prom two years ago as the marketing chair on the Board of Directors. She now helps create brand identity for the organization, which includes 600 volunteers. The annual prom would cost about half a million dollars to put on for 300 guests, but is made possible by the time and resources donated by community partners. “It’s about seeing the smiles,” she says, “and feeling the joy from the guests.”

THE WISH GRANTER
After more than 10 years with Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada, it’s a safe bet to say that Victoria Otter likes to make wishes come true for critically and terminally ill children. “We had a little girl who wanted to be in a fashion show,” Otter says. “Fashion Show mall let us throw one for her, and after getting her hair done, she walked the runway with a grin from ear to ear.”

With a sigh, she adds, “I don’t know anyone who can say no to a sick child.”

Otter, a political consultant, speaks from the heart: She began working with Make-A-Wish while her nephew was fighting a six-year battle with leukemia, which he ultimately lost. “Those wishes brought him so much joy,” says Otter, who has since gotten her three children involved. “What people don’t realize is that a lot of the wishes are so simple and attainable. We just need to make them happen.”

ON MERCEDES MARTINEZ: 19.67 carat American Beauty diamond necklace ($104,000) and earrings ($86,000); Jasmine diamond bracelet ($14,600); Riviera diamond bracelet ($17,400); and two Sonata diamond bracelets ($28,200 and $18,300), all by Kwiat. ON ANNEMARIE JONES: 30.36 carat American Beauty diamond necklace ($229,000); Legacy diamond earrings ($55,800); 35.39 carat Moonlight diamond bracelet ($148,000); and two Riviera diamond bracelets ($86,100 and $33,400), all by Kwiat.

BEST IN SHOE
She is the kind of woman who doesn’t just talk the talk—although she does that five days a week as one of the country’s top radio hosts. Mercedes Martinez of Mix 94.1 walks the walk of those who can’t do so that easily, via her love affair with the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation.

“In many local families, mornings are an issue of which child will go to school that day because they have only one pair of shoes that all the children share,” she says. “You can’t go to school without shoes.”

Goodie Two Shoes provides shoes and socks for as many of those kids as it can. “They show up at schools and other places with a big box of shoes,” Martinez says. “The kids get to pick. It’s like Christmas morning for them.”

“My problems seem ridiculous when I meet kids who don’t have a way to walk into their dreams,” she says. Now they do: with their best foot forward.

CHILDREN’S CHAMP
Annemarie Jones is a busy mother of two but says she stays energized in part because of all of the new things going on in Las Vegas right now. “It’s an exciting time in our city,” she says. “We’re watching Vegas grow up.”

One of her favorite projects is Discovery Children’s Museum, which will soon move into the new Smith Center, and for which Jones serves on the foundation board and board of trustees. “My husband’s grandfather was quite involved in the building of the museum,” she says. “It’s such a special place, where children can come to learn and grow.” For her work, Jones was granted the Champion of Children Award by the Public Education Foundation this year.

Jones lived in Honolulu for a few years before moving to Vegas with her children, now 6 and 7 years old, and is committed to helping our community, especially when it comes to children. “I want all the kids in Vegas to have what my children have,” she says. “When you go to a museum, everyone is on the same playing field.”