A funeral service was held in the ruins of Port-au-Prince Cathedral this morning to remember the 230,000 people killed in the earthquake that devastated Haiti exactly one year ago. The Haitian people have withstood what was named one of the worst natural disasters of our time, a government in turmoil, and an unexpected chlorea outbreak which had claimed over 3,500 by the end of December. Experts estimate that 400,000 Haitians may get cholera over the next year. With all this going on, still the spirit of the country has not been broken; they’ve chosen not to run, but to rebuild. 

A year later, people are still actively organizing to help a country in need. All the organizations below, as reported by MSNBC, are dedicating a portion of their budget and time to Haiti relief. Even with all the global support that has rushed in, it is nowhere near enough. Contact any of the below and see how you can help make a difference for Haiti in 2011.

Accion International 617-625-7080
Action Against Hunger 877-777-1420
American Friends Service Committee 215-241-7000
American Jewish World Service 212-792-2900
American Red Cross 800-733-2767
American Refugee Committee 612-872-7060
Brother’s Brother Foundation 412-321-3160
CARE 800-521-2273
Catholic Relief Services 800-736-3467
ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children’s Fund) 800-776-6767
Children Incorporated 800-538-5381
Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation 800-225-0292
Church World Service 800-297-1516
Compassion International 800-336-7676
Doctors Without Borders – USA 888-392-0392
Food for the Hungry 800-248-6437
Freedom from Hunger 800-708-2555
Gifts in Kind International 703-299-7532
Habitat for Humanity International – N.O. 800-422-4828
Heifer Project International 800-422-0474
International Medical Corps 800-481-4462
International Rescue Committee 877-733-8433
Lutheran World Relief 800-597-5972
Medical Teams International 800-959-4325
Mennonite Central Committee 888-563-4676
Mercy Corps 888-256-1900
Operation USA 800-678-7255
Oxfam-America 800-776-9326
Partners in Health 617-432-5298
Plan USA 800-556-7918
Project Concern International 858-279-9690
Salvation Army 800-725-2769
Save the Children 800-728-3843
UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) 800-554-8583
William J. Clinton Foundation 501-748-0471
World Concern (Program of Crista Ministries) 800-755-5022
World Neighbors 800-242-6387
World Vision 888-511-6548

Image via NYTimes.com’s comprehensive Haiti Earthquake Multimedia section.

Travel to Jamaica,  Turks and Caicos, Vail, Saint Barth… to benefit the lives of cancer survivors.  On Friday, December 10th, CEW, Cosmetic Executive Women will be holding the 2010 Beauty of Giving Luncheon & Live Auction at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City to benefit Cancer and Careers, an organization that Spa Week has been donating a portion of proceeds to for more than six years. Over 80% of cancer survivors return to work after treatment; the organization helps women with educational seminars, support groups, and free publications.

The event will include a live auction with six vacations up for grabs, each one courtesy of a different media outlet, including Self, Prevention and GQ magazines. Spa Week is pleased to be one of them, presenting six nights on the limestone cliffs of Negril’s scenic West End in Jamaica. The Caves was voted one of the world’s best hotels for romance and service by Trip Advisor’s Traveler’s Choice Awards in 2009 and 2010. Experience a retreat at one of the most romantic boutique hotels in the world with someone you love, and know that the money spent is benefiting the lives of cancer survivors.

Spa Week’s Romantic Getaway to the Caves Hotel, Negril

This 7-day, 6-night package for two (2) includes:

• Round trip ground transfers to and from Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica
• All-Inclusive accommodations for six (6) nights (double occupancy) in a One Bedroom Oceanview Suite, including all food and beverage (including select wines and champagnes)
• In-Room champagne upon arrival
• One guaranteed hot-tub booking
• One guaranteed evening of Cave dining in one of the hotel’s beautiful grottos
• Two (2) Spa Treatments per person, including:
  1. The Rejuvenating Organic Jamaican Coffee Scrub
  2. Aveda Peppermint Neck and Head Massage OR 30 Minute Massage

Restrictions: Winner must contact Spa Week Media at least six (6) weeks in advance of desired dates. Prize is valid from January 1, 2011 to December 10, 2011. Travel is subject to hotel availability; certain blackout dates may apply. The prize does not include any items in gift shop or The Rum and Cigar bar, nor does it include spa treatments other than what is described above. Service charge and sales tax are not included. Trip and travel insurance are not included or provided. Airfare is the responsibility of the winner. Children under the age of 16 are not permitted at the hotel. Spa treatments can be booked with the property directly at any time prior to the service.

GQ’s Ski Holiday at The Arrabelle at Vail Square

Macher’s Adventure At The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise

Prevention’s Escape To Hotel Saint-Barth Isle De France

Self Magazine’s Los Cabos Retreat At The Esperanza

Parrot Cay Resort Experience

Click HERE to learn more about each of the vacations and donors.

Interested in bidding and can’t make the auction? Click HERE for the absentee bidding form to be entered for one of these exclusive vacations.

To donate to Cancer and Careers without bidding in the auction, click HERE.

Images Courtesy of islandoutpost.com

Tis the season of giving… and giving back.

To celebrate all the love and generosity in the air with thousands of people giving the gift of SPA to their friends, family and coworkers, Spa Week Daily is giving back to charity AND giving you the chance to win a SPA gift card for yourself. We’ve partnered with one of our favorite new charity organizations, Glamour Gone Good, which encourages and supports beauty, fashion and spa businesses in giving back to women’s causes. Here’s how this Give, Give Back and Tweet to WIN giveaway works:

GIVE

We’d first like to thank everyone who chooses to give the gift of SPA this holiday season. With the mission of spreading health, beauty and wellness lifestyle to the next generation, Spa Week‘s Holiday Gift Card Sale offers $100 SPA Gift Cards for just $79.99. All other denominations are 20% off – you won’t find this deal anywhere else! SPA Cards are redeemable 52 weeks a year at thousands of day spas, medical spas, salons and wellness centers nationwide for massages, facials, scrubs, pedicures, acupuncture and more, and they never expire. Click here to buy Spa Gift Cards.

GIVE BACK

For every new @SPAWEEK Twitter follower we get from now until the end of 2010, Spa Week will donate 10 cents to Glamour Gone Good. Right now we’re at: 8,799.

We chose this organization because we absolutely love their concept, as well as the 3 women’s causes they support — scroll down for all the details. GGG encourages beauty, fashion, salon and spa businesses to integrate charity into their everyday business by giving them fun and easy ways to give back to women in need, even if they don’t have much to give.

WIN

Follow @SPAWEEK and @GlamourGoneGood on Twitter.

TWEET: SPA-liday Gift Card Sale from @SPAWEEK! Follow them to #GiveBack to women in need, and Tweet to Win a $100 SPA Gift Card. http://ow.ly/3gSns

Extra Entry: Comment below with the women’s charity that is most important to you, and include your @Twitter name.

Every Tweet will count as one entry to win a $100 SPA Gift Card from SpaWeek, redeemable all year around for massages, facials and so much more. Contest Ends December 31st at 11:59 EST. Winner drawn and announced on this blog post on January 3rd.

1/3/11 UPDATE: Congratulations Joanna Smith @joannaonthelake – you are the winner of the $100 SPA Gift Card! Thank you all for the support in raising money and awareness for Glamour Gone Good’s beneficiaries. We are now at 9,209 followers… thank you and welcome to our 410 new Tweeps.

About Glamour Gone Good and the 3 women’s charities they support:

Committed to women’s and girls’ empowerment, Glamour Gone Good is engaging America’s glamour-makers in charitable activities to raise funds for the Glamour Gone Good grants program, which funds America’s leading women’s and girls’ charities. Glamour Gone Good will award grants of up to $100,000 from the funds raised by professionals in fashion, beauty, salon and spa industries to the following three organizations:

Dress for Success Worldwide is an international not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Since starting operations in 1997, Dress for Success has expanded to more than 100 cities in the U.S., Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the UK and the West Indies. To date, Dress for Success has helped more than 500,000 women work towards self-sufficiency.

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) serves girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. GEMS was founded in 1999 by Rachel Lloyd, a young woman who had been sexually exploited as a teenager. GEMS helps young women and girls, ages 12-21, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and to develop to their full potential.

Sister to Sister: The Women’s Heart Health Foundation is dedicated to preventing heart disease in women. It accomplishes this by increasing awareness that heart disease is the number one killer of women, offering free cardiac screenings for early detection and treatment, and by educating that healthy lifestyle changes can reduce heart disease risk dramatically.

Official Rules

The month of October is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of women who brave the battle against breast cancer. In 2009, over 200,000 women were diagnosed. Charities and organizations across the country are raising funds in hopes of finding a cure for the disease. Now you can do your part by shopping the cure. Many of your favorite beauty brands are donating proceeds for research. The next time you go out for lipstick, moisturizer, or perfume, shop PINK. Check the label for breast cancer. Here is a list of 9 Breast Cancer Awareness beauty buys to get you a glowing start.
1. Alterna Caviar Working Hairspray – Alterna haircare is doing their part in the fight against breast cancer with the Limited Edition Breast Cancer Awareness Alterna Caviar Working Hairspray. 5% of proceeds from every can sold will go to Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation! $18 at Beauty.com.

2. RapidLash – Eyelash and eyebrow renewal serum, Rapidlash, is all about beauty that gives back! All year long, the brand supports the fight against breast cancer by donating 5% of company profits between Susan B. Komen and The American Cancer Society. $49.95 at drugstores and mass market retailers nationwide.

3. Jane Iredale Phoenix Sugar & Butter Lip Exfoliator – In support of Breast Cancer Awareness, a new version of the popular Sugar&Butter Lip Exfoliator and Plumper called Phoenix will be released. jane iredale will donate $2 from each sale of Phoenix Sugar&Butter to Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC). $24 at Jane Iredale.

4. FingerPaints Nail Enamel in “I Pink I can” and “I am a Survivor” – In October 2010, Sally Beauty will make a $65,000 donation to the Cancer Support Community as a proud sponsor of its mission to ensure that all people impacted by cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action, and sustained by community. $4.99 each at Sally Beauty.

5. Keratin Complex “Think Pink” Flat Iron – Digitally controlled, high temperature flat iron is perfect for a gift with meaning. Keratin Complex partnered with Florida-based “Think Pink Rocks” organization to promote education pertaining to breast cancer awareness, treatment and testing. This adorable flat iron also comes with a convenient heat pouch so you can get great hair on-the-go! $199 at Keratin Complex.

6. Shiksa Face Gloss – Blushing for BCA – Celebrity makeup artist and NYC “Brow King”, Ramy, a cancer survivor himself, is showing his support with charitable contributions from the Shiksa Face Gloss – a vibrant, pink shade that delivers perfect and portable flawless color for eyes, cheeks and lips! With the purchase of every Shiksa Face Gloss you too can look beautiful for a cause and reflect Ramy’s mantra of “minimum makeup, maximum impact” with 25% of proceeds during the month of October going directly to the “Young Survival Coalition” – the premier international organization dedicated to the critical issues unique to young women and breast cancer. $18.50 at Ramy.

7. Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System - Look Good, Feel Better. Give cancer the kiss off with the pink Clarisonic Mia Sonic Skin Cleansing System! Feel even better about your daily beauty routine by snagging the ultimate in deeply cleansed, brighter skin—with every purchase of this fashionable Mia, Clarisonic will donate $4 (and $5 for every pink Classic Pro or Plus) to Look Good…Feel Better, a national public service program dedicated to helping women offset appearance-related changes from cancer treatment (60% of women who participate in Look Good…Feel Better have breast cancer). $149 at Nordstrom.

8. Slant® Tweezer – Precision in Pink - Tweeze For The Cure
To commemorate their commitment to the fight against Breast Cancer, Tweezerman introduces the new 2010 limited edition Slant® Tweezer – Precision in Pink. A cotton candy-pink background, adorned with the iconic BCA pink ribbon logo, is spangled with little flashy silver specks design. One dollar from the sale of each limited edition Precision in Pink will go to CancerCare as well as other Breast Cancer Awareness charities throughout the country. $20 at Tweezerman.

9. Boscia Rose Blotting Linens -  Blot For the Cure. Shine doesn’t stand a chance against Boscia Rose Blotting Linens! Perfectly formulated to blot away excess oil, unwanted shine and perspiration without disturbing makeup, these conveniently sized linens are also infused with rose essence to soothe skin and uplift the psyche. What’s more— boscia donates 10% of sales of Rose Blotting Linens to the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation ( to support breast cancer research. ) $10 at Sephora.

Generation D Founders Darren and Shannon Pollack with Christie Brinkley

Start ‘em young! Usually when you think of the ‘Wild Wild West’, images of spurs, cowboys and gunfire are brought to mind, but this past weekend one of our forward-thinking NYC spas joined the Albert Einstein School of Medicine for the 2010 Wild West Carnival (ironically out East in the Hamptons) in the name of health and wellness starting at a young age. Dasha Wellness, recently known for introducing the PhysioRED spinning machine to New York, and founders Darren and Shannon Pollack kicked off their program for children: Generation D.

Generation D seeks to enhance your child’s well-being by focusing on teamwork, motivation, respect and athleticism. Christie Brinkley, Edie Falco and Alison Brod were all there to lend their support. All proceeds went towards supporting women’s cancer research. At the event there was a challenging obstacle course for the kids as well as massages and stretching for parents. Everybody wins! For more information on Generation D, and how it can benefit childrens’ lives click here.