On January 12, 2012, a group of 15 teenage girls from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County (BGCM) visited the Red Bank Holistic Learning Center for a day of learning that focused on organic beauty products and increasing awareness of natural health and wellness. The girls that attended participate in a BGCM program called S.M.A.R.T. Girls. S.M.A.R.T Girls is a health, fitness, prevention/education, and self-esteem enhancement program designed to encourage healthy attitudes and lifestyle that will enable girls ages 8 to 17 to develop to their full potential.
The day started with a tour of the Red Bank Holistic Learning Center, which creates its natural beauty products on- site and offers health and massage classes. During the tour, the girls received samples of different beauty products and learned how various raw materials are turned into usable, healthy beauty products. Each girl had the opportunity to smell the natural oils used in products and handle the organic rocks and powders that are used in creating all natural beauty products.
Next, the girls met with Jeff Stevens, the center’s education coordinator, who discussed how soaps and essential oils are made using the products they had seen during the tour. Throughout the visit, the girls received tips relating to skin care and health. The center staff emphasized the benefits of lavender for its soothing properties and how massaging the various pressure points on the body can relieve pain and headaches.
BGCM Director, Cheryl Pearsall, who accompanied the girls called the trip “enlightening and worth going back to.” In the future, the girls hope to go back to the center and attend a class in which they can learn to make their own soaps and beauty products or get a massage.
For more information about the S.M.A.R.T. Girls program, call the BGCM main office at 732-775-7862.
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