MASSAGE WITHOUT BORDERS

OUT OF THE RUBBLE: It’s been a month since the superstorm crashed into our lives on the eastern seaboard. The devastation is tremendous and the burden weighs heavy on our hearts for those who lost everything.  I can say with absolute certainty if you live along the coastline in NY, NJ, MD, DE you lost something.

I grew up on Jersey Shore and though I lived in many states beyond Exit 98 I can’t remember a better summer then those spent in Point Pleasant, Seaside Hgts, Manasquan, Asbury Park, Sandy Hook and I can go on and on. The Jersey Shore is what makes living in NJ seem worth it.

Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to bring on the kind of grace, good will and solidarity necessary realize we are all in this together. But where do you start? So much debris, total chaos in the streets, national guards on the corners with guns, strangers in your neighborhoods, homes without power and people without homes!

I asked the ultimate question; where can I best serve? The answer was clear.  I grabbed my massage chair and a couple Pampered Spirits and we went help the people that help people.  We massaged firefighters, first responders, national guardsmen & women, FEMA workers and their supporters from LBI to Point Pleasant.

Still I wanted a cause that I could gauge something more. Then I got a call about week after the storm from my teacher Gloria Coppola asking how some of our massage colleagues made out during the storm.  I personally knew four therapists effected.  Some lost their homes others lost some possessions including their massage equipment. Gloria shared a story of an angel who called out to her for assistance for another colleague; Lisa Mayer who lost her home in Ortley Beach.

And so the outreach begins. In a weeks time a strong network of Massage Therapists Helping Massage Therapists who are surviving the effects of Sandy was built. Two weeks post Sandy and the distribution of massage tables gifted by Oakworks and 3B American supplies, along with some food baskets donated by Massage Pro CE, Gift Cards gifted by Massage magazine along with of host of other donations made it to many massage therapists and their families.

Massage Pro C.E. created this organization to help massage colleagues and now it has morphed into a full blown Non-Profit; Massage Without Borders.  Its Mission: To provide an immediate call to action to support our colleagues those that have been affected by the devastation of Sandy!

The Board Members are set and Massage Without Borders will soon be official as a non profit organization.  We just started helping our colleagues and we look forward to many more years of being here. Let's build a strong network of colleagues to support each other and keep it going. 

I am proud to be a founding member of Massage Without Borders. My name is Bridget Riley Turnbach and I am a Massage Therapist Helping Massage Therapists.

Please contact us at massagewithoutborders.org or  nj.pamperedspiritspa.com for more information on how you can help or if you need assistance.