Casa Blanca Salon and Spa hosts mother-daughter spa event for Starlight Starbright's seriously ill children
March 22, 2007 - Rancho Santa Fe Review / March 15, 2007 - Carmel Valley News/Del Mar Village Voice

Casa Blanca Salon and Spa, located in Rancho Santa Fe, is hosting a Great EscapesSM event on Sunday, March 25, to unite mothers and their seriously ill daughters with 11 other mothers and daughters from San Diego and surrounding areas, and treat them to a day of pampering, relaxation and quality time together away from the hospital environment and medical treatments. The Great Escapes program was developed by the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation to help families find ways to allow kids to be kids and to forget for a moment that they are sick. These fun-filled and entertaining events not only offer families the rare opportunity to relax, regroup and return home with a renewed sense of strength, but also to connect with other families, learn from each other and understand that they are not alone. These events are often the only chance that some families have to spend recreational time together outside of the hospital.

The owners of Casa Blanca Salon and Spa, Neil and Marcina Checketts, realized they had an opportunity to reach out to seriously ill girls and their mothers when they learned of the Great Escapes program. The Checketts have been hosting Beatrice Berries™ parties for young girls at their spa for quite some time, to celebrate birthdays and other special occasions, so they have previous experience in implementing these types of themed events. Given the medical condition of the girls, the Checketts immediately formed a commitment to underwrite the cost of hosting Great Escapes events at their facility. The March 25th event will be the first of several Great Escapes events that they will host in 2007.

According to Marcina Checketts, “When we found out about the Great Escapes program at Starlight Starbright, we knew it was a natural fit for us. We are blessed with a healthy, 8-year-old daughter, Kendra, who gave us the inspiration to host Beatrice Berries spa parties for other girls in her age group; we instilled in Kendra from a very young age the concept of helping others, and this will impart another wonderful learning experience for her as well as provide us with the privilege of creating a memorable experience for these mothers and daughters while offering them a sense of hope for the future.”

The mother-daughter spa party on March 25 will include a variety of spa-related treatments and activities including: dressing in chenille robes and crystal-studded spa slippers; sparkle nail polish and mini pedicure; a trip to the “Berry Bar” to create custom berry-flavored lip gloss and berry-scented glitter lotion; and a make-up and hair session with professional stylists. Refreshments will include mini marshmallow smoothies and scrumptious cupcakes decorated by the girls at the Cupcake Station. Gift bags will be provided, and those interested in donating one dozen gifts appropriate for
girl’s ages adolescent to teen and/or one dozen gifts for their mothers can contact the spa at 858-759-8998. To learn more about the Great Escapes program, please visit www.starlight.org/greatescapes.

Casa Blanca was founded in 1995 and is the recipient of the 2000 Salon of the Year Award of Merit from Modern Salon Magazine, a national media publication. Casa Blanca is a full-service salon and spa for men, women and chaperoned children with a retail boutique offering unique gifts and accessories along with hair, body and skin care products imported from around the world.