2015 Successful Hands Grant Program Winners Announced

BiofreezeMassage Envy Spa, and Bon Vital' have announced the winners of the Successful Hands Grant Program, a collaborative program to support professional massage therapy students. Students applied for one of eight $1,000 grants by submitting a 200-word essay on “What being a successful massage therapist means to me.” A committee of five spa industry leaders, including American Spa magazine’s editor-in-chief and publisher Julie Keller Callaghan and two editors from Massage Today, reviewed the applications and selected the following grant recipients:

·       Kelly Berry, Body Therapy Institute (Siler City, NC)

·       Melissa Furtado, SpaTech Institute (Plymouth, MA)

·       Brittney Hawk, Cortiva Institute of Massage Therapy (Scottsdale, AZ)

·       Sarah Huseby, Minnesota School of Business (Blaine)

·       Tyler Kragerud, East West College of the Healing Arts (Portland, OR)

·       Bailey Leighton, Madison College (WI)

·       Stacy Siddle, Cuyahoga Community College (Highland Hills, OH)

·       Bridget Todd, College of Southern Maryland (La Plata)

“I am truly confident that our profession’s future is in very good hands based on the passion and professionalism reflected in the grant applications,” says Lynda Solien-Wolfe, vice president, massage and spa, Performance Health. “With more than 850 submissions, choosing just eight winning essays was a difficult yet rewarding assignment for our selection committee. It’s an uplifting experience to read what our students are striving to do to make our world a better place. I am delighted and honored to announce this year’s winners.”