Coming home from the Premiere Show and seeing the devastating pictures of a catastrophic hurricane's destructive force across Louisiana, Mississippi and outlying areas, our behindthechair.com team would like to send our prayers to those affected in this terrible tragedy. With over $40 billion dollars of damage, it is likely that many salons and salon professionals working in these salons have lost everything. In addition, a large portion of these communities are poor, so it is also possible that many salons did not have insurance.
Take a moment and consider how lucky you are. You live in the most amazing country in the world. You have a roof over your head and food in the refrigerator- two luxuries thousands of people in the hurricane district won't have tonight. Moments like these teach us not to be petty- to give thanks for what we have and not dwell on what we don't. Life is not about the gathering of "things", it's about sharing and giving and experiencing relationships with others. We need to remember how precious life is and how we can NEVER take it for granted.
Over the next few weeks, we expect to hear from a large number of salons and salon pros who have been affected by the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Their touching stories and desperate needs have already started to flood in. We'd like to ask for your help.
If you or someone you know has been affected, please contact me by email at mary@behindthechair.com. Tell us the name, the story and contact information of the person in need.
We'd like to ask manufacturers to make products available including wet goods, tools, appliances, furniture- whatever you feel you can give. We will begin a list of those salon pros in need and make it available to those companies who are willing to provide goods.
Finally, for BTC members, we know what a caring group you are. Sometimes I think behindthechair.com exists for moments like this- when we are able to work together as a community to do amazing things we could never do without each other. We'd like to ask for your help by providing monetary donations or salon furniture, tools, appliances- whatever you think a salon pro can use. As behindthechair.com is not set up to take monetary donations, we have chosen a charity which is perfect for this situation-The NCA Disaster Relief Fund. The National Cosmetology Association's fund is specifically set up to provide financial assistance to salons and salon professionals who have been affected by a natural disaster and it pays for those items insurance will not cover. The Fund was established in the 1970s and throughout a variety of natural disasters, most recently Hurricanes Hugo and Charlie, has helped countless professionals rebuild their salons and professional lives.
Every dollar helps. Please make your donations payable to: NCA Disaster Relief Fund