FIRM STAND ON CANCER COUPLE TOUCHED BY DISEASE NOW USES PORTION OF JEWELRY BUSINESS TO HELP OTHERS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

CANOGA PARK - A good idea built Abbie and Jeff Rapport's business, but it was cancer that changed the company.

The couple, both in marriage and in business, comfortably ran their Key Item Sales Inc. jewelry manufacturing business for years. They employed 20 workers and sold millions of dollars worth of bracelets, necklaces and key chains. They invested their profits in a nightclub and a skating rink.

Jeff was the company's chief executive officer and drove a convertible, Abbie, the president, crisscrossed the country to talk up her inventions. Their Memory Maker photo bracelet was linked to celebrities like Sharon Osbourne and Justin Timberlake. They did well for themselves.

Then, three years ago, Abbie got breast cancer, just like Jeff's sister, just like her mom. She beat the disease. Last year, Jeff got prostate cancer. He beat it, too.

Now they're rejiggering the company to help others in their fight against the disease.

``We've been very fortunate that we've had a nice business that's been successful,'' said Jeff Rapport. ``We don't have to count on every project to be a moneymaker. It feels nice to do something more than selling stuff, going home and sitting in the Jacuzzi.''

The company will now manufacture a special breast cancer awareness version of the Memory Maker that it plans to sell nationally in Linens 'n Things this fall. Part of the profits will go to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The Rapports hope to expand their program to eventually cover other forms of cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

They've also started selling the Memory Maker to charity groups in small batches, adapting the bauble that's done more than $20 million worth of retail business, for use as a fundraiser. Most businesses are structured to maximize profits, so charitable contributions can add a significant new dimension to an enterprise.

``You can't be too self-absorbed, in business or life,'' said Fred Evans, dean of the California State University, Northridge, College of Business and Economics. `It's always important to be concerned about other people, otherwise you're not really a whole person. Those people sometimes succeed in business, but they certainly don't succeed in life.''

And the Rapports certainly seem successful these days. They've been written up in the fashion press and showed up on national television. The bracelet, conceived by Abbie during a Texas airport layover several years ago, will sell in Europe this fall.

``It was an exciting idea, but I didn't expect it to get this big,'' Abbie smiled. ``I just wanted to do something that was pretty ... The rest of this business is set up to make money. We've got to pay the employees, pay the rent, pay the bills. But this is the part that makes us feel good.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2 -- color) Abbie and Jeff Rapport, above, both survived cancer and now donate part of their business efforts to raise funds for cancer charities through their Canoga Park company, Key Item Sales Inc. The couple has introduced a version of their popular Memory Maker line to increase awareness of breast cancer, which includes bracelets, key rings and money clips that hold photos of loved ones.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer