When Jane Aransky, owner of La Residencia Spa (Newton Upper Falls, MA), a day spa dedicated to helping its clientele achieve physical, emotional, spiritual, and nutritional health, began seeing first-hand how soothing spa treatments can help ease grieving clients, she vowed to do something about it. A labor of love for Aransky that’s been years in the making, Aransky is pleased to announce the new Touching the Healing Heart Fund. Working in partnership with Boston-area hospice, nonprofit organizations, senior living facilities, and religious institutions, the Fund provides complimentary, holistic spa treatments for people in the Boston area who have lost a parent, child, partner, or sibling. These treatments transcend the aesthetic by providing the "touch" that has been proven time and time again to ease and speed the recovery process. Services are performed at La Residencia Spa by experienced estheticians and massage therapists who have more than 50 years of combined experience in touch therapy. The Fund is supported entirely by donations of unwanted consumer electronics as well as cash donations. The organization has teamed up with Causes International, a Needham, MA-based green cause marketing company that provides an easy means for individuals to upcycle their small- to medium-size consumer electronics and keep them out of toxic landfills. Thanks to this partnership, individuals can easily support Touching the Healing Heart Fund by donating their gadgets and videos online, including things like their old iPhone or videos their children have grown tired of. “Most people think of spa as something that is more about beauty or aesthetics, but the right kind of spa services can have a profound impact on the emotional health of the recipient,” says Aransky. “The mere physical touch of another person combined with therapy-oriented treatments that enable the recipient to relax and surrender themselves to the touch of compassionate caregivers, is deeply healing.” To make a donation or for more information, visit http://touchingthehealingheartfund.org/.