Olga’s Makes Beauty Pay Off for Rory

Olga Nisenboim had never met Rory Deutsch or his parents. But after hearing Rory’s story, the owner of Olga’s Day Spa in Highland Park, Ill, decided that no child or family should ever have to experience what Rory and his family had endured. Olga held a one-day fund-raiser at her spa that brought in $4,100 for pediatric brain tumor research.

For five hours on October 17, 1999, Olga donated 100 percent of the salon’s revenues to the Rory David Deutsch Foundation. In addition to raising $2,000 from all the manicures, pedicures, body wraps and beauty services, Olga held a day-long silent auction that brought in another $2,000. The spa had doubled Olga’s fund-raising expectations for the day.

“It was a very festive day. We offered all our usual services to clients, and had a food buffet and silent auction going on all day,” recalled Olga, a mother of four girls, who are 12, 14 and 20-year-old twins.

To accommodate the clients who came specifically for the fund-raiser, Olga brought in extra operators. Many of Olga’s full-time staff had also donated their time for the day. For this year’s fund-raiser, tentatively set for September 10, Olga will continue with the food buffet, the auction and the full line of services. She is also adding a fashion show, complete with modeling and purchasing.

“As a mom, I was so touched by this story, by how courageous Rory was, what he had to go through, how he finally lost his battle, and how his parents went through this,” said Olga. “My salon donates things daily to different organizations. But I really wanted to do something meaningful for me, something bigger for this boy, so that hopefully we’ll find a cure.”

For more information about Olga’s September 10 fund-raiser, or to donate an item for the auction, please call 847-433-8812 or visit the website.