Spa Swag for Warriors gives D.C. residents an opportunity for good karma.
By Selene San Felice
After a hard day at work or a particularly stressful week, women everywhere are seemingly programmed to pamper themselves. Some rush to the salons for manis, pedis, facials, massages and other beautification rituals. However, for the women serving our country overseas, salon visits are not an option, and despite working under unsanitary high-stress situations, quality bath and body products are often not provided.
Spa Swag for Warriors, an Arlington based nonprofit, seeks to end the bath-and-body drought. Working off of donations from PayPal and their website, the organization sends packages full of socially responsible products to female soldiers in the Middle East, West Africa, East Africa and Southeast Asia. Companies such as Cate McNabb, Tom’s of Maine, Estee Lauder, Murad and Arbonne have donated their products as well.
“We are not so arrogant to presume that sending yummy smelling bath and body products to deployed female service members will change these endemic problems overnight and or increase the overall retention of women in the military,” the company states. “Sending a lovely package of thoughtfully-sourced products however, can have an immediate impact on their morale and well-being. Being a strong soldier and feeling feminine do not have to be mutually exclusive.
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Spa Swag is now giving D.C. residents a chance to donate to the cause and pamper themselves at the same time. The organization hopes to expand its network of corporate sponsors who are willing to donate in-kind bath and body products or help out financially.
Tranquil Space has been a supporter of Spa Swag since the organization’s beginning, hosting events as well as donating bath and body products.
On Aug. 22 Tranquil Space DuPont will host an all-levels karma yoga class to benefit the organization. The $20 drop-in donation will go entirely to Spa Swag for Warriors and will grant donors access to Carol Meyer’s class covering step-back sun salutations, standing poses, hip-openers, seated poses, twists, backbends and basic inversions. Cava Mezze has also agreed to donate vegetarian pita sandwiches for participating yogis after the event.
Spa Swag’s CEO and Founder, Lacy Chong, frequents Tranquil Space in her spare time. “I love Tranquil Space’s ‘tranquilosophy’ of taking care of yourself, eating well, giving back to the community via charity classes and the Tranquil Space Foundation, and also of empowering yourself and others,” Chong said. “It feels like my home away from home.
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For more information on the event visit tranquilspace.com/dupont and spaswagforwarriors.org.