By Jody Clouse, CSMT Chair

The end of summer is a slow time for Community Service Massage Team (CSMT) events, but that doesn’t mean we stop working and planning.

Don’t forget that National Massage Therapy Awareness Week is coming up soon!  National Massage Therapy Awareness Week takes place from October 22 to October 28.  There are great resources on the national AMTA page, so go check those out, spread the word and work!

As of this writing, the CSMT Emergency Division (CSMT-ED) is in preliminary deployment mode.  As you know, many first responders have been working hard in order to help with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston.  We received a request for our services at a local Connecticut Red Cross chapter and our fearless CSMT-ED leader, Deb Van Ohlen, is working to get this event set up.  This request for services will be used as a drill to keep our Emergency Division on their toes and ready to act!

In a continuing effort to give back to our community, the CSMT will be collecting new toys for the Toys for Tots program at our Fall Chapter Meeting.  I hope I can encourage more of our members to be active in supporting our communities-in-need by bringing a toy or two on October 22.  Toys for Tots accepts donations for kids of all ages; suggestions include (but are not limited to) sporting equipment/bags/balls; books, backpacks, cosmetics, purses, watch/wallet gift sets, bath gift sets, board games, radio control cars/trucks, hand-held electronics, skateboards/helmets, curling irons, hair straighteners, and hair dryers. They only accept new/unopened gifts and will not accept gifts that contain realistic-looking weapons or food.

Looking forward, we are continuing to gauge interest in running a CSMT-ED training.  If you are interested in taking a class to become a CSMT-ED member, please contact me at CSMTAMTACT@gmail.com or Deb Van Ohlen at CSMTEDAMTACT@gmail.com.