As many of you know, April was Earth Month, and Redlands Beauty & Bellissima Aveda went all out for our fundraiser for our local chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. The Surfrider is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world's oceans, waves, and beaches. Beginning April 1st, we began giving away reusable bags for donations of $1. We also had Earth Month t-shirts made with organic cotton for sale with part of the proceeds benefiting Surfrider. On April 6th, 12 staff members, significant others, and 1 client carpooled to Huntington Beach to a Surfrider sponsored beach clean-up.
Our goal this year was to raise awareness about the state of our oceans and beaches, how important our Inland-actions are to the health of the oceans (like planting ocean-friendly gardens, sweeping our driveways instead of hosing them off, and keeping our storm drains clear of debris). The world is not making any new water, so every drop matters. It is our responsibility to keep that water clean. We also wanted to raise $2000 for Surfrider. So we planned a benefit art auction. We collected artwork from local children, clients, and employees. We set up an art walk through our beauty supply, salon, and spa on Earth Day, April 23, 2008. Here are some of the pictures of the artwork we collected.
At the end of the day we had raised $500 for Surfrider. We had healthy snacks, smoothies and champagne for all of our clients and artists who came down to hang out with us. The children who submitted their artwork received a Certificate and tiny Mimosa tree to plant.
We opened our spa up to the public, and our therapists donated their time to give free hand and foot treatments and chair massages the entire day. Redlands Beauty offered special pricing on Dermalogica and Murad sunblock, and eco-friendly lines like Abba, Paul Mitchell, and Pureology.
Brynn's son, Cullen, came down to check out the art. He didn't bring the rest of us any ice cream, but he did leave with two pictures for his room.
We raised more than $1800 throughout April. We could not have done it without the generous support of our clients. A special thanks goes to our donors and talented artists: Renee, Ruth, Brynn H., Patricia, Vicky, Spencer, Summer, Melissa, Eduardo, Christian, Malachi, Michael, Jim, Ian, and Brynn F.
