Wednesday, October 28, 2009

how cool is this?


Yesterday morning, I got a call from Oresta. She told me that she had read my article in the Centretown Buzz and wanted to reach out to me.

Even though I love her store and spa (I asked for gift certificates for Christmas last year), I was not on her mailing list and had not received the letter that I posted above.

It's hard to read, so here is the text, in full:

OCTOBER is BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Pinkwasher: (pink’-wah-sher) noun. A company that pur-
ports to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink
ribboned product, but manufactures products that are
linked to the disease.

Dear clients,

ORESTA organic skin care confectionery is committed to providing organic spa
treatments and to supporting companies that manufacture truly pure and organic
products. We believe in beauty without compromising your health.

We have been touched by cancer in our families and with our clientele - as
cancer survivors and undergoing cancer therapy. The prevailing comment of clients
who have come in for a spa treatment while undergoing therapy was how nurturing a
visit to ORESTA organic skin care confectionery was for them.

We have wanted to help the cause but have struggled with a way to do this.
Do we donate a % of sales? a % of services? Do we fundraise? For which organiza-
tion or foundation? In the end, what feels right for us, is doing what we do best:
pampering.

If you, a friend or loved one is undergoing cancer therapy and would enjoy an
organic facial treatment, please contact us. We are committed to treating one
woman per week to a complimentary ORESTA treatment.

Oresta was calling to offer me a facial (I am going on Friday) but I offered to blog about this offer. She asked me to clarify that she and her staff will be offering this service to women undergoing treatment throughout the year - not just during October.

I am impressed and touched beyong words. Have any of you ever heard of anyone else doing this?

I told my spouse that, by coincidence, I had written in journal that morning that I would really like a facial. He said, "Tomorrow, could you write that you would really like a home renovation?"

6 comments:

sassymonkey said...

That is pretty cool. :)

deb said...

Very cool. Although, I love Tim's response.

Dee said...

Yes, a woman who owns a local spa here in town saw the article about me in the paper a year and a half ago. At the time, she was doing the hair of a mom whose child also goes to Eddie's school and the mom said, "I know her", so the spa owner (who is also a cancer survivor - I think it was pelvic?) promptly gave her a gift certificate to give to me for a free manicure or pedicure. I received free pedicures for about 8 or 9 months and had one everytime I had my hair trimmed. I stopped asking for it last winter because I was doing so well. They assured me, however, if I do have to go through IV chemo again in the future, I will get the free pedi again. It's really nice. Our local breast cancer community also sometimes gives meals through a local dinner club - they prepare the meals and all you have to do is to heat it up. It's really nice for both services.

Liz Kreger said...

That is very cool. Nice that a business is giving back like that. I'd never heard of Oresta, but I think I'll check them out and see if there's a local branch here in the Milwaukee area.

laurie said...

thanks all! and liz - oresta named her spa after herself. there are no other locations but as dee demonstrates, it is worth looking for those special business owners in every commnunity.

Mom2Amara said...

What a lovely way for a business to reach out to the community!

And so, did you find someone offering a home renovation?? :)