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Now It's Moms' Turn To Get Pampered

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 26, 2007

SOUTH TAMPA - Licette Lover and Shannon Christaldi met as new moms at the Baby Bungalow.

They said they found a support network and learned parenting skills at the early childhood resource center, 3106 W. Azeele St. The two eventually started a Web-based business, www.babynewsbits.com, to help connect parents.

A month after launching their site, Lover and Christaldi showed their appreciation to Baby Bungalow by hosting a spa day Sept. 19 to pamper moms and raise money for the nonprofit center, a program of the Child Abuse Council.

The council operates on an $8 million annual budget, $1 million of which must come from private donations.

'Everyone in the community has been a part of Baby Bungalow in one way or another, and this is a way for us to give back,' Lover said.

The facility was awash in the soft glow of relaxation lighting. Instead of children participating in singalongs, moms were getting massages and having their eyebrows shaped by staff from Enchanteria Day Spa and Dreamery.

'Baby Bungalow is a wonderful place,' said Andrea Barreto, eyebrows still red from her shaping appointment.

Barreto found the center when she was pregnant with her first child, now 4. She has moved from South Tampa to Carrollwood but commutes to Baby Bungalow with her 8-month-old because 'I believe in what they do.'

A portion of the proceeds from the silent auction, 60 spa appointments, the sale of Silly Dilly Tot Spot clothing and children's items, and the sale of Hollowtree Images portrait photographs went to the bungalow's programs. Lover estimates $4,000 was raised.

For information about the Baby Bungalow, call (813) 356-1293 or go to www.babybunga low.org.

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 835-2114 or jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com.

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