Aug 27, 2007

Nonprofit addresses violence with Healing Touch

By Adria Murray / Society Writer

"Hands are for healing, not hurting," is a mantra for Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, and was the message of the hour at its fourth annual Healing Touch Spa Party.

Benefiting Next Door, a San Jose-based nonprofit specializing in domestic violence intervention, the event brought together professionals from the spa and beauty industry who lent their talents (and hands) to the greater good.

Held at the Hotel Los Gatos on Aug. 16, the hotel's Preston Wynne Spa rolled out a buffet of spa treatments, including facials, mini back and shoulder massages, paraffin wax hand and foot treatments, makeup sessions, hair extensions and debuted its new Bamboo Massage (touted as the next Hot Stone massage.) Spa services for the event were donated by Preston Wynne. Additional services were volunteered by a handful of other local salons and spas.

Creating a casual air of elegance with its poolside massages and champagne cocktails, attendees were invited to relax by the pool and in the Platinum VIP suite upstairs while snacking on Greek hors d'oeuvres from hotel restaurant Dio Deka and listening to live jazz.

Next Door Fund Development Director Dori Ives lined-up a bevy of fun items for the auction, including a four-night stay for six in a Maui condo, a smile makeover, season tickets to Montalvo and an iPhone. The night's raffle drawing prize was a private spa party for four at Preston Wynne Spa in Saratoga.

About her inspiration for the event, party "brain child" and Preston Wynne Spa owner Peggy Wynne Borgman said she wanted to "put what we (spa professionals) do to work for an event that is positive."

Borgman said that finding the right platform for talking about domestic violence is hard, but that she and Next Door Executive Director Kathleen Krenek feel the Healing Touch event strikes the right balance between information and indulgence, giving and receiving.

Last year in Santa Clara County, more than 5,400 incidents of domestic violence were reported, involving more than 900 children, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. "We are really hoping to someday be able to eliminate domestic violence," Krenek said.



Adria Murray's society column appears every Sunday in the Los Gatos News. Send event information to 324 High St., Palo Alto, CA 94301, or e-mail amurray@dailynews group.com or call 650-327-9090, ext. 328.