Massage therapy has become an intricate part of the recovery effort in New York City.

        Certified massage therapists of the Ohio Massage Disaster Response Team will travel to New York to relieve other therapists, who are giving free service to rescue workers and caregivers working near the site of the Sept. 11 tragedy.

        “Human touch is so powerful to nurture and bring a person home inside themselves,” said Sister May Lou Knapke of the Sisters of Charity in Cincinnati. “These are very ordinary people in very extraordinary circumstances. Touch provides some security and safety for the caregivers.”

        She is one of three faculty members of the Cincinnati School of Medical Massage in Blue Ash on the team, which also includes Haleta Holmes and Barbara Richison. Others from Cincinnati are: Dianne Ward, Angie Hanf and Sarann Mock.

        Elizabeth Kerlin of Sylvania, Helen Dreeze of Toledo, Rena Slater of Greenville and Bill Mitchell of Dayton also will be part of team two, which will work in New York from Nov. 3-10.

        The Sisters of Charity are flying that team to New York.

        The first team of therapists, headed by Yvonne Fey of Perrysburg, leaves Toledo on Friday and will work through Nov. 3.

        The therapists will work 24 hours a day at St. Paul Chapel, half a block from Ground Zero, and at the Washington Square United Methodist Church, a mile from the site.

        The therapist teams will stay in the homeless shelter attached to the church.

        Small's Hardware of Lockland has joined other retailers of Do It Best Corp. to raise a total of $235,000 to aid disaster relief efforts in New York.

        Greg Small, president of Small's Hardware, said the retailers also donated an emergency truckload of supplies, which included dust masks and slush boots.

        Small's Hardware has four retail stores in Cincinnati.

        Students of Yavneh Day School of Kenwood have sent messages of compassion and encouragement to New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

        Hand-written messages were enclosed with a Lucite plaque designed by art teacher Diane Woloshin and Judaic studies teacher Rachel Rachovitsky.

        The plaque reads: “The students and staff of Yavneh Day School have you in our thoughts and prayers. Shalom b'olam — peace in the world.”

        The students also collected $407, which was matched by the school. The money was donated to the Victims Relief Fund of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.

        Allen Howard's “Some Good News” runs Monday-Friday and Sundays.
       

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