BIOTONE, MT Foundation Partner to Raise Funds

Between April 15 and May 31, BIOTONE massage-product company will donate five percent of the proceeds from all purchases over $50 to the Massage Therapy Foundation. BIOTONE's founder hopes to donate as much as $10,000 to the foundation to help fund community-service grants.

“It gives us great pleasure to participate with the Massage Therapy Foundation to make massage available to people who will greatly benefit from its powerful healing capabilities,” said Jean Shea, BIOTONE founder and CEO, in a company press release. “Massage is increasingly becoming part of a mainstream health care and we want to ensure that economics does not preclude anyone from having access to it.”

The Massage Therapy Foundation is a 501 (C) 3 public charity, with a mission to advance the knowledge and practice of massage by supporting scientific research, education, and community service.

“BIOTONE generously supports the Massage Therapy Foundation’s desire to bring massage to people who are suffering," said foundation President Diana L. Thompson, in a BIOTONE press release. "[The] gift of up to $10,000 will greatly assist the foundation in funding programs that bring the power of touch and massage to people in need, to their families and their communities all over the world.”

BIOTONE is a manufacturer of massage oils, cremes, lotions and gels, as well as spa body-treatment products. Purchases must be made via www.biotone.com or by calling (800) 445-6457.

Shea has a history of funding massage research: In October she attained sustaining-benefactor status by donating $15,000 to foundation. Her company's contributions to the Touch Research Institutes at the University of Miami School of Medicine have supported research into the benefits of massage therapy to enhance immune function in breast-cancer patients, to determine the effects of massage therapy on chronic lower-back pain, and to determine the benefits of massage therapy to minimize the preventable pain and disability of arthritis.

For more information about the foundation, visit www.massagetherapyfoundation.org.