For the second year in row, we are pleased to be supporting our February Charity of the Month: Healing Headbands.

Harnessing the healing power of art and laughter, Sea Cliff-based Healing Headbands works with people with serious illnesses (children and adults) to create joy. Run by certified laughter leaders and co-founders Barbara Grapstein and Joanie Accolla, Healing Headbands has worked with more than 1,000 children, conducting workshops in hospitals, schools, with Girl Scout troops, corporations and everywhere healing is needed.

The workshops begin with 20 minutes of simple improv-style laughter exercises, scientifically proven to shift brain chemistry and get participants ready to “paint their joy”. The colorful art created is then printed on ultra-soft micro fiber with UV protection up to 50 percent. Headbands are made from the art and can be custom-sized for special purposes (i.e. casts or bandages). Now the children can “Wear their Happiness”.

Since its founding in 2013, Grapstein and Accolla have integrated healing workshops in 12 major hospitals in the United States with plans to duplicate and expand the program nationally. Contact Barbara and Joanie at info@healingheadbands.com to bring the project to your community.