CHICOPEE — To celebrate Women’s History Month, Ashley Batlle, owner of Beauty Batlles Lounge, an advanced beauty and wellness spa at 46 Cabot St., announced the Empower Her Confidence Drive, a month-long initiative to provide feminine hygiene products to teens in Chicopee and Holyoke schools.
Period poverty affects millions of students across the U.S., with studies showing that nearly in 1 in 4 teens have missed class due to lack of access to menstrual products.
To combat this, Batlle is bringing awareness to the issue by encouraging the community to help by donating pads, tampons and other feminine care items.
“The goal is to empower girls to show up with confidence every day,” Batlle said. “No one should have to choose between their education and their basic needs. It’s something that I wanted to work towards and start and do this drive for about three years.”
Donations can be dropped off or shipped to Beauty Batlles Lounge at 46 Cabot St. Chicopee, MA, 01013.
Readers can also make monetary donations at beautybatlles.com.
Batlle has collaborated with IQ Ink to create T-shirts for the Empower Her Confidence T-shirt with all proceeds from the sales going toward the initiative. The link to order the T-shirt is also available on the website.
Although the drive is a month-long effort, meaning it will end March 31, Batlle said they might continue to be a location all year long that people can continue to drop off donations.
“March being women’s month and also us hosting International Women’s Day was in March, it seems like the right month to kick off the drive on an annual basis but we will be supporting this initiative all year long,” Batlle stated.
All the monetary donations are so Batlle can make bulk purchase of the products. Batlle also has spoken to the head of the nursing program at Chicopee Public Schools and the homeless student population director in Holyoke Public Schools to disperse the products to those who are in need.
March also marks the spa’s seventh anniversary, and Batlle is hosting a special celebration on Thursday, March 27, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Beauty Batlles Lounge.
Guests are encouraged to bring feminine product donations. All donors’ names are being added to the spa’s Gratitude Mirror, a reflection of the generosity and kindness of those making a difference.
This is the third location that Batlle has moved to after progressively outgrowing the previous two locations.
She reflected on her journey and said, “It’s been quite the journey with being able to add services, some because they were requested by our clients or some because we just wanted to see how they would work out and continue to grow that way.”
Batlle also said over the last seven years she has been able to become intertwined with the community by starting different initiatives that give back to the community like Empower Her Confidence Drive.
The other two initiatives gave back to frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic and a Christmas drive, which focused on sponsoring gifts for 300 teenagers in the foster care system.
Batlle said she enjoys giving back to the community and explained, “The seven years has brought growth within the business itself as far as services, as far as locations, as far as staffing but it’s also allowed us to grow within the community and being able to find ways to give back.”
She also said she is proud of the services she offers that “you can’t really find everywhere in one place,” including the wellness and recovery section of things.
Beauty Batlles offers services like body sculpting, microblading, facials, cryo therapy, lash extensions and body waxing while using cutting-edge technologies and the finest medical-grade products to customize treatment to your specific needs in order to reach your goals quickly and effectively.
Batlle said she looks to continue grow the brand and let people know that her services at her business are available. She stated, “Now we’re focused on having people know that we’re here.”
