2013 Humanitarian Award

Congratulations to MWB for winning the 2013 Aunty Margaret Humanitarian Award for their compassionate service to our colleagues!

James Waslaski presented the award to former 1st VP Kathy J Burley earlier this month.

Scholarship Announcement!

   All of us here at Massage Without Borders are happy to announce our first scholarship winners! Amanda Van Buskirk from Dayton School of Medical Massage in Ohio won a $1000 scholarship, and Theresa Hyman from Body Care School of the Healing Arts in New Mexico won a $500 scholarship. Both ladies also are receiving a student massage table package from Oakworks! Congratulations to both of you, may the scholarships lessen your financial burden as you embark on this journey to become wonderful, knowledgeable, healing bodyworkers! Enjoy everything your education has to offer you!

Theresa Hyman receiving her $500 check with her school director Veronica Hernandez

Special thanks to Oakworks, Massage Book, and Bon Vital for contributing to this scholarship mission, and also thank you to everyone who participated in the National Event raising funds so we can make these scholarship opportunities happen. :) We now have fall scholarships available! Interested in applying? Just head over to our website for more details and an application.

Call to Action: Pamela Raven, a fellow MT in need

   Pamela Raven is a massage therapist from Washington. Three weeks ago she was cooking at home when suddenly she fainted. Twenty minutes later she woke up to burns all over body. She now has to have extensive skin grafting done. As horrifying as this is, it could happen to any of us. Pamela does not have health insurance and does not qualify for Medicaid, so she has to rely on money out of her own pocket for all the expenses she is about to have, and the bills will be adding up quickly.

Pamela before accident doing pet therapy

Pamela post-accident

 

   

  
   Massage Without Borders is a newer 501(c)3 non-profit so we do not have funds readily available at this time to cover her expenses. However, we also do not want Pamela to have this heavy financial burden to deal with when she gets home from the hospital either, and will use what resources and opportunities we have to raise funds to help her. So we look to you, our volunteers and supporters, to help us by "adopting" this massage therapist. As we have said before, every penny counts, so whether you can spare $5 or $50, the relief and overwhelming joy that a person feels when they know they're community is stepping up to assist them is priceless. Take it from Julie Bunnell, the MT who needed emergency brain surgery a few months ago...MWB had so many amazing supporters who jumped in and total donations were approximately $8,000. We just received this letter from Julie a few days ago: 

"It is hard to sum up how big of an impact Massage Without Borders has had on my life. It is remarkable that a few people can network and raise thousands of dollars in a few days, but they did that and more. When you are sick and have hundreds of people rally around you financially, and hundreds more praying for you, it is impossible to not have your outlook on life shift; because of the tremendous moral support I received, I had a much easier recovery...and because of MWB, I will have a much quicker financial recovery from this unexpected ordeal as well.  It seems cliche to say that my faith in humanity has been affirmed, but that is the truth. I can never say enough thank you's to the people who donated to me--a perfect stranger. All I can say is that for the rest of my life I will follow their example. Thank you, all. Julie Bunnell, LMT"

   

   This is why we do what we do. This is why Massage Without Borders exists. Julie's words show us just how much of an impact you can have on someone you have never even met, and you can feel the gratitude coming from her letter. 

   If you are interested in adopting a MT in need and, more specifically, helping Pamela out financially as she recovers, you can donate directly via our website under Adopt an MT. Please write "Pamela Fund" in the comment section of your donation. Each of us may be one person, but we all know the power that can happen when we all come together. At the time I am writing this, we have approx $900 in donations, in just a couple days time, but as we know medical bills are expensive and we still have a ways to go. With just a few clicks on our website you can help us get closer to our goal, and most importantly give hope and light to someone who needs it. 

Events of June 2013

   We recently had the opportunity to attend the Florida State Therapeutic Massage Association conference and what a great weekend it turned out to be! Gloria and Kate met many amazing people, welcomed a few more volunteers to the team, and had a great inspiring time with FSTMA! $500 was raised for Massage Without Borders, and there was a basket of goodies valued at $1000 that was raffled off and won by new MT Crystal Bowman! Congratulations Crystal, what a great way to start your career with a basket of products from our awesome contributers Biotone, Anita Shannon of Ace Cupping, Ivy Joe Staton of Bamboo Fusion, Gloria Coppola and her lomilomi book, DVDs, CDs, textbooks and more!

Kate Hudak, Gloria Coppola, and Kaye Jackson Hughes at FSTMA

Linda Beach presenting Crystal with her basket!

   During this time we also had our Educational E-auction and Telethon, which raised approximately $2500! A huge thank you to all of our supporters and contributing educators; every one of you matters and without your support we wouldn't be where we are today! Not only did you invest yourself in Massage Without Borders, you also invested in products and knowledge to help you further your career and become a better practitioner...how great is that?

   ***Attention: Aside from all the successful fundraising, Massage Without Borders' Board of Directors also has some important news for our team of active volunteers. We are currently accepting applications for two Vice President positions, and are also accepting nominations for Regional Coordinators, Assistant Regional Coordinators, and a Team Leader. If you or someone you know has a passion for MWB, wants to motivate others while collaborating with the board on projects and events, and/or feels called to do more within the organization, please contact Executive Director Gloria Coppola at massagewithoutborders@gmail.com for more information on these positions and what is required. The board will be voting soon, so send over your resume today! From MWB to all of our supporters we send our love and gratitude each day, for so many of you have stepped up, stepped in, and come together to help out our fellow bodyworkers! 

Results of May Fundraising

   The past month has been a busy time for our volunteers. We had the Art E-Auction, which raised about $400, and the National Event which has raised $3,100 and we still have more coming in to add to the total! Thank you to all the volunteers, businesses, and schools who participated. I wish I could hug each one of you in person, but I guess virtual hugs will have to suffice for now, so a big (((HUG))) to all of you, and we look forward to collaborating with you on future projects. It is a great thing to see when we all come together to help each other through Massage Without Borders. Your support never goes unappreciated and your hard work never goes unnoticed. We love our volunteers and partners!

   Next event is our Educational E-Auction & Online Telethon from June 23rd to 30th! Bid on textbooks, DVDs, home study courses, and workshops. Educators interested in donating any of these materials to the auction can fill out an application on our website. Students and LMTs can help the community by fund raising, and in return get the products they need to expand their professional knowledge. The telethon will take place LIVE June 26th at 9:30pm EST co-hosted by Ryan Hoyme (aka "The Massage Nerd") and Gloria Coppola. Come chat with the educators, including Erik Dalton, Irene Diamond, Gloria Coppola, Linda Beach, Sharon Puszko and many more! Thank you to BioFreeze and MassagePro CE for sponsoring this event. Click here to join the event via Facebook, and mark it on your calendar now, because it's coming soon and you won't want to miss this great opportunity to connect with educators in the field! See you there!

   One more note: as stated in the last post, tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma, and after that post was published they had more go through the area and surrounding states. Although the assistance of MWB has not been needed for these disasters we still send our thoughts out to the families and relief crews out there working to recover and clean-up the aftermath. As of right now there are also wildfires blazing through California, Arizona, and the biggest one through Colorado. There has been many evacuations and we will keep everyone up to date with whatever action we need to take. Please keep all areas in your thoughts and prayers and send healing energy especially to Colorado as they fight this fire that has already consumed over 500 acres. Namaste. 

Another Call to Action and Some Good News

Yesterday, tragedy hit Oklahoma. An F4 tornado ripped through the city of Moore, leaving massive devastation in its wake. Families torn apart and homes and business destroyed, this tornado was said to have been one of the worst OK has ever seen. All of us at MWB send out prayers,positive thoughts and healing energy to the families affected by this disaster. We will keep everyone posted of any bodyworkers who need our help and different ways you can contribute. Right now the board is working behind the scenes to determine what needs to be done, and we have volunteers in Oklahoma who are ready to help in any way they can.

   If you or someone you know has been affected by the tornadoes that ripped through the Tornado Valley and need assistance, please contact Massage Without Borders right away and let us know what you need, and we will do our best to find support or resources. Our contact info is at the bottom of the blog. Want to help those in need right now? On our website there is a donation button linked to our disaster relief fund, or if you would like to help out families who have been impacted by the disaster and have the ability to send text messages on your phone, you can text STORM to 80888 to donate $10 to The Salvation Army, REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross, or FOOD to 32333 to donate $10 to the Oklahoma Food Bank. The money will just be added to your phone bill.  As previously stated, we will keep everyone updated on how you can help any practitioners in need as well. 

  Now, I think we could all use a little piece of good news, so it is with my utmost pleasure to announce that as of April 2nd, 2013 Massage Without Borders is FINALLY 501(c)3 APPROVED! Congratulations to everyone who has made this possible and jumped through every hoop to get this accomplished. We are now a truly official non-profit organization, at only 6 months old, and there's still bigger and better things to come to MWB this year, I can feel it! Also as a second bit of good news, our Executive Director Gloria Coppola was interviewed today by Louise Hay, author, publisher, personal assistant for the Hay House Radio Show "Acts Of Kindness"! The interview will air in June over 15 times across the world! How awesome is that? With so much going on behind the scenes and in the news, now is as good of a time as ever to actively join us and see what you can do as an MWB ambassador for your community and what we can do as an organization for our country. Be a helper, a doer, a fundraiser, a motivator, or even just a facebook event and info sharer. There's much to be done and much you can do, so get in contact with us today!

May Fundraising

Whew! May must be the month for fundraising. We have two fundraising events this month and active volunteers doing projects as well. With all of these exciting opportunities to help out Massage Without Borders, it can be hard to keep track of what is coming up! That is why if you go on Facebook and click on the events section of our fan page, you can easily join the events and Facebook will remind you what is coming up each week! You won't want to miss the fun, so here is what's coming up:

May 12th is our Artistry E-Auction. Looking for a piece of decor to really pull that room together? Relax in your pajamas with a cup of tea and order some great art pieces straight from your computer! It doesn't get much easier. 

Month of May any day is our National Fundraising Event in Schools and Businesses! We have a great number of places who will be donating a portion of their proceeds from massages that day to MWB. Proceeds we receive will go towards our scholarship fund, which leads me to my next announcement...

Our Student Scholarship Fund is now available! If you are enrolled in an approved massage school and experiencing a financial crisis concerning your tuition payment, you may be eligible to receive a scholarship. After reviewing applications and picking recipients in June, two scholarships for this season will be handed out in the amounts of $500 and $1000. More information on qualifications and the application can be found on our website. 

A big THANK YOU goes out to all the schools and businesses involved in our first National Fundraising Event, and to all the hardworking volunteers and coordinators also supporting Massage Without Borders. Also thank you to Bon Vital for contributing $1,000 and Massage Book Scheduling for contributing $500; because of people like all of you, we can help not only our colleagues in crisis, but our future colleagues as well!