Rancho Santa Fe News
June 8, 2007

Salon Hosts Event for Ill Girls and Moms

Rancho Santa Fe - Casa Blanca and Spa is hosting a Great Escapes event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 10 to unite 12 mothers and their seriously ill daughters 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 from San Diego and surrounding areas find ways to allow kids to be kids and to forget for a momet 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.

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. Given the medical condition of the girs, the Checketts immediately formed a commitment to underwrite the cost of hosting Great Escapes events at their facility. The June 10 event will be the second of four Great Escapes events that they will host in 2007.

According to Marcina Checketts, "When we found out about the Great Excapes program at Starlight Starbright, we knew it was a natural fit for us. We are blessed with a healthy, 8-year-old daughter, Kendra. 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 will include a variety of spa-related treatments and activities including: dressing in chennile robes and 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 girls ages adolescent to teen and/or one dozen gifts for their mothers can contact the spa at (858) 759-8998.

Casa Blanca, located at 16081 San Dieguito Road, 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. For more information, visit www.casablancasalonspa.com. To learn more about the Great Escapes program, please visit www.starlight.org/greatescapes.