Spa La La – The Sandals Halcyon Spa Team on a Mission to Share Love and Kindness

Sometimes a little kindness goes a long way, and it is with this in mind that the team members from Sandals Halcyon Beach Resort and Spa treated the residents of the Johnson Memorial Home for the Elderly to a spa day to remember.

Sandals Halcyon Beach Spa Manager Laurina Stanislas said that while making their guests happy was important, they also wanted to ensure that members of the community also got a chance to experience the Sandals luxury. “I wanted to create an initiative for my team members to come together and give back. I truly believe that there is power in numbers.’

And so, a contingent of seven Sandals spa team members made their way to the Johnson Memorial Home for the Elderly located on the lower Morne Road in Castries, where they freely offered several residents some much deserved pampering. Laurina said it was their way of paying it forward. ‘We need to go out, to show and be the change that we want to see in the world. To show what we can do not as individuals but through togetherness. I spoke with my Public Relations Manager Masana who suggested a Spa Day at the Johnson’s Memorial Home. When I presented it to my team, they were so excited to get to it.’

Prior to the visiting day, the Spa team all came together and contributed items to prepare a grocery hamper for the home. The hamper was presented to the General Manager, staff and residents of the home upon arrival and for the next few hours the spa team beautified the 14 female residents with manicures and nail polish along with soothing shoulder massages.

The Johnson’s Memorial Home is a non-profit organization established in March 2005 with the broad mission of improving the quality of life of the poor, elderly, and destitute citizens of St. Lucia and eventually the wider Caribbean region. The home provides its residents with empathetic care givers administering the appropriate personal care, to ensure that the residents spend their remaining years living in social environments which are safe, supportive, happy, and comfortable.

Emma Emmanuel, General Manager of the Johnson’s Memorial Home said, ‘It was so heartwarming receiving the phone call from the team at Sandals Halcyon indicating their intention to visit and give a little pampering to our seniors. I instantly knew how this gesture would impact both the seniors and our dedicated staff. The smiles on their faces and eagerness to get a massage and their nails manicured and painted truly showed how much our seniors relished the attention. They felt loved and appreciated.’

Emmanuel further stated that ‘People experience unfortunate life circumstances but in addition to food, clothing, and shelter, is a dire need for community and companionship and it’s wonderful to see the Sandals Halcyon team take the time out to be with our residents, beautifying them, and having those meaningful conversations with them. It’s something that money can’t buy; it comes from the heart.’

When asked about the impact of the experience on her team members Spa Manager Laurina said ‘We gained more than expected from this activity. We had so much fun with the residents listening to their life stories, dancing with them, and hearing how much they appreciated the attention.’

She continued, ‘With that being said, we have decided to make this an annual gesture! We will continue these good gestures throughout the year reaching out to as many as we can. We are all looking forward to visiting the Johnson’s Memorial Home again later this year.’