Crowdsourcing: What's been your most successful charity event to date?

We recently raised about $10,000 to rebuild a dock that was in disrepair in my hometown of Vung Tau, Vietnam. We were thrilled at the response from our friends and clients who wanted to reach out and help the people who are very dear to us in our hometown. Then, this past January, we hosted a group of nine of our clients to tour Vietnam. Of course, this trip included visiting Vung Tau and the rebuilt dock.  We feel truly blessed to be able to help and to have so many great clients who wanted to contribute to the cause.

Cici Ngo, La Bella Nail Spa, Tacoma, Wash.

 

Our salon works with a lot of charities. Recently, we had an event at Paterson High School in Paterson, N.J., helping battered women and kids learn the benefits of yoga. More recently, we worked with Autism Speaks. Almost 200 people came in to the salon to support. We donated 20% of our proceeds that day and raised lots of money for them!

Nausil Zaheer, Karma Organic Spa, Ridgewood, N.J.

I recently volunteered at my daughter’s Girl Scouts event. We did a whole girls’ day and I polished all the girls’ nails. This summer, I’m also volunteering to do polish changes for donations at an American Cancer Society Relay for Life event. Relay for Life is a community/team relay walk and event with games and entertainment. The proceeds go toward research to find the causes and cures for cancer. The event started back in 1985 and now has grown into a worldwide movement that has raised almost $5 billion to fight cancer.

Eva Jenkins, Extraordinary Nails by Eva, Bellevue, Neb.

Denim Day is an annual violence prevention day sponsored by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit, Peace Over Violence. The campaign especially focuses on raising awareness about abuse and violence against women and children. I own D.I.D. Nail Paint, an eco-friendly nail line, and I’ve partnered with Dasha Wellness Spa in New York this year to present a wonderful evening of beauty, wellness, and awareness for Denim Day. I believe that it is important for a beauty brand like mine to support causes that help to empower the lives of women. Not only do I want people to have perfectly painted finger tips and toes, my goal is to make a difference one manicure at a time.

Adrienne Blanks, D.I.D. Nail Paint, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Montage Hair and Nail Studio hosted a Pilot Event for American Heart Association called Go Red Girlfriends Party with hopes  that  it  will  be a  national initiative. A longtime client and dear friend, Jennifer Hauck, vice president of The American Heart Assocation asked that Montage be a test run for AHA. It's still in the pilot test phase, and to date ours was the most succcessful. The event was to bring awareness to women about heart disease, and during the event a video was presented on just how heart disease can affect anyone regardless of physical appearance or physical health. There was a donation at the door, and food, wine, etc. was available as well as fun salon services and raffle tickets for great prizes.

Christy Graham, OPI Guest Artist/Artistic Design Team, Montage Hair and Nail Studio West Chester, Ohio

One of the more memorable charitable events we've done recently was in February of this year. We had a call from a PR company tha

t was organizing the #Pedi4Cause event in support of Dress For Success Vancouver. Our mobile spa team worked together with sponsor Barefoot Wine & Bubbly to set up pedi stations all around Earls' V Lounge in the Yaletown area of downtown Vancouver, near our spa. There were all kinds of media folks there, and plenty of food and drinks going around. It was definitely a fun way to do a fundraiser – and very successful! (Photo of Kelly Davy, one of our estheticians at Luxe Beauty Lounge & Mobile Spa in Vancouver BC.)

Michael Gordon, (photo of esthetician Kelly Davy), Luxe Beauty Lounge & Mobile Spa, Vancouver, BC

I ran a charity drive through my home-based salon called "Help a Sister Out," which benefited our local women's shelter. It was very successful. With the help of all the trusting public, we were able to donate two 3/4-ton truckloads full of clothing, appliances, bedding, and toys. It was an honor to be trusted by the people of our city to make those donations on their behalf.

Alana Holst, RedPlatinum Studio Salon, Okotoks, Alberta, Canada 

At FrancesRay Jules Salon we are giving back as much as we can with gift certificates and running events. I would have to say our most successful salon charity event would have to be the event for The Melanoma Foundation. We removed everything we could out of the salon and had a wine tasting, silent auction, and raffle and Art showing were a portion of the art was donated to the event. We had 90% of the food, cash bar and everything donated, which totaled over $6,000! It was amazing to have family, friends, clients, and local businesses support a cancer that can hit us all by just being in the sun.

Ben Mitrano, FrancesRay Jules Salon, Boston

NEXT QUESTION: How do you achieve a good work/life balance?

Share your opinion on the topic by e-mailing your response by April 15 to tracy.rubert@bobit.com.

Please include your name, salon, city and state, and a high-resolution headshot with your response.

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