Women with special needs family members got a well-deserved break during the Caregiver Day of Pampering at Salem Bible Fellowship Church in Lehighton on Saturday.

“What we’re doing is honoring moms of special needs children,” event organizer Connie Quinn said.

“We have this whole day planned for them, and everything is done by volunteers. The afternoon is all spa services: massage, makeup, haircuts, manicures, foot and hand scrubs, facials. We also treated them to breakfast and lunch, and we had a morning worship service.”

Quinn, along with Linda Tomko and Carren Bynon, got the idea for the event from Joni and Friends Pennsylvania, a group that helps facilitate a connection between churches and the disability community. After attending a similar pampering event in Lancaster, the women decided that the idea would work well in their own community.

“We thought, we need to do that here, because we have caregivers here, women who are frazzled who need a day out,” Bynon said.

“This is why we did this, to show that these women are valued in God’s eyes, and they need time to be pampered and taken care of so that they can go back and be more responsive and helpful with their family members.”

Over the years, the event has blossomed, with more and more attendees enjoying a day of rest and relaxation.

“Our first event, we had 13 people. Last year’s event, we had 21, and this year we have 32,” Quinn said.

Taking some time to chat after making the rounds, Christina Tompkins, Jemma Rees-Morgan and Amy Marini praised the organizers and volunteers for their contributions and services.

“It’s fabulous to be able to get pampered, to connect with other moms. It’s nice to recharge,” Amy Marini said.

“Everyone was pretty friendly, they were all so nice. I loved the facial, but all of them were wonderful,” Jemma Rees-Morgan said.

The volunteers themselves, who came from organizations like the Metro Beauty Academy, Mary Kay and local churches, were happy to offer their talents to such hardworking and dedicated women.

“They deserve a day of pampering, so a lot of us volunteers came together to offer that service to them. They’re working so hard every day, and this is a way to give back to them,” makeup volunteer Josie Ramos said.

As Tomko put it, most of the women at the Day of Pampering were so involved with every aspect of running other people’s lives, they rarely got a chance to take some time for themselves, making the event all the more special.

“It feels wonderful. It’s something unusual, but it feels very nice,” Emily Weeks said as she got a massage.

First-time visitor Desiree Kelly, whose son Ryan is classic autistic, brought her daughter Lilly along to the event.

“I am my son’s caregiver but I can’t do anything without my daughter, because I’m disabled, too. We all work together, so I brought her along so she could enjoy herself, too,” said Kelly, who has multiple sclerosis.

“She’s amazing. He’s the reason I get up in the morning, and she’s the reason I can get up in the morning.”

And while the spa services were a welcome treat, Kelly said that connecting to other women with special needs family members was invaluable as well.

“It’s a beautiful event. What’s really nice is talking to other people, because you’ve all found different resources and different programs, and if you speak to people outside your area or circle, you find even more stuff that can open up opportunities for your child. The stuff I found out today was great, and these ladies may be far away from where I am, but they turned me on to things that I’ll be able to access for my son, too,” she said.

Tomko said that building connections among these women was a prime focus for the event, and she hopes that they will use what they learn from what another to spread the Day of Pampering practice.

“They are mingling and getting to know one another, which is what we want. Maybe, they can take this event and do it in their own hometown. This is the only event like this that I know of within 70 or 75 miles,” she said.

After just a few hours away from stress and strain of daily life, nearly every woman left the church with a smile on their face. And providing that break, as Quinn said, is vital to maintaining the strength of these wonderful caregivers.

“As a mom of special needs son myself, I realize that moms don’t take care of themselves. They don’t pamper themselves. They don’t have the time to get a haircut, get their nails painted,” Quinn said.

“In order for us to feel good about ourselves, we have to do stuff like this. We have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of our children.”