Even if that diamond ring won’t shine, BARN members will take it and make it divine.

All through this month, Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) is seeking all broken, unused and unwanted jewelry donations. For this year’s BARN community service project, the jewelry will be repaired and made anew.

It will then be given to women’s shelters across the Olympic Peninsula as well as the YWCA Dress for Success Program.

“Everything gets repurposed,” said Jane Martin, head of BARN’s jewelry studio, who often finds bags of jewelry hanging from her home mailbox. “Every woman has jewelry in their jewelry box they don’t wear. Nothing goes to waste.”

Martin is organizing BARN’s first sorting party, but she has participated in the project through the Seattle Metals Guild for the last decade.

The project, she said, brings great joy for those who donate or participate in creating jewelry.

“It’s such a black hole you’re starting to fill,” she said of repurposing the jewelry. “It feels sweet to lift a woman’s spirit.”

All styles and types are accepted, even if broken. Finer jewelry and scrap metal will be sold and the cash will be used for grocery and gas gift cards for shelter residents.

Sandra Leese participated in her first sorting party five years ago and said she plans to help again this year. She encourages the public to donate any jewelry, but especially single earrings.

“We are able to take apart various pieces,” said Leese, also a BARN member. “Odd earrings can be made into charm bracelets, pendants or other jewelry items. Some pieces just need a little repair to make them wearable.”

As an experienced metalsmith, Leese said there’s joy in participating in a different project from her normal medium.

The end result is what makes it all worthwhile, she said.

“The camaraderie is stimulating, knowing that we are providing these women with something beautiful in their lives. They may have left their homes with absolutely nothing of their own,” she said. “We hope that in our small way, we can make their day a happier one.”

After the jewelry is donated, it is given to women in a variety of ways. When Mother’s Day rolls around, children in the shelter will often wrap the jewelry and give it to their mothers. For those who don’t have children, sometimes the necklace or pair of earrings they receive is the perfect finishing touch for a job interview outfit.

“We don’t give them junk,” remarked Martin. “We give them nice things.”

On May 9, the community is invited to a work session where the collected jewelry will be sorted and cleaned. It is open to ages 10 and up from 1 to 4 p.m. at the BARN facility.

Within a week, experienced jewelers will tighten stones, straighten wires and perfect the jewelry. Then, and only then, will donations be given to the shelters, Martin said.

“The shelters are always pleased that they get things of substantial quality,” she said. “A lot of times they get junk donated, and it’s very insulting to their clients.”

One particular donation in the past still makes Martin a bit emotional.

During a sorting party, a man stood in a doorway, tears in his eyes and a box in his hands.

The box contained all of his late wife’s jewelry; collected pieces he had no use for anymore. His daughter stood behind him as he remained speechless.

Martin remembers that day clearly. She and others had gathered to clean, sort and package miscellaneous jewelry to be repurposed for the women’s shelters. When the man appeared, unable to say a word, the daughter stepped forward to let Martin know what he wanted to donate.

Still unable to hand over the box, Martin told him to look around the room at volunteers who were cleaning and sorting jewelry.

She reassured him that his wife’s jewelry could be repurposed to make a difference in the lives of women who had nothing. Martin told him that his wife’s love would continue on into the world through the jewelry.

He left, never saying a word.

His wife’s jewelry stayed.