Gold Standard for Lice Removal Opens in Lincoln Park to Save School System $2.5 million

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chicago school system, known
 for being one of the nation's most challenged, will have the opportunity to
 save $2.5 million, which is threatened by a little known, but expensive
 problem: lice infestation. According to entrepreneur Maria Botham, lice
 infestation is the #1 reason for school absenteeism, and on average it
 costs the U.S. public school system over $500 million every year. Her chain
 of elegant stigma- busting Hair Fairies salons in America's major cities
 are detangling the big hairy mess one strand at a time, and will come to
 Lincoln Park, Chicago in December 2007. The salon will be located at 2336
 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60614, 773.327.0800.
     From celebrities to CEOs, head lice affects all socioeconomic levels.
 It hits hard and spreads like wildfire when uncontrolled. The problem is
 impacting the nation's schools, whose federal funding for each child's
 daily presence in school is squandered when they miss class. The issue has
 spawned a $100 million products industry, yet none of the chemical-based
 washes are effective.
     Botham's Hair Fairies elegant designer-appointed salons rival any
 designer hair salon and provide Game Boys, Nintendo, children's videos on
 giant flat screens and portable DVD players to sit on kids' laps. High-end
 magazines and high-speed wireless access are provided for adults and
 trained staff educate and dispel myths about head lice. Hair Fairies
 technicians search through each client's mane a strand at a time. This is
 followed by two non-toxic treatments to insure that no nit, or egg, remains
 behind. The $95-dollar-an- hour necessity is covered by medical insurance,
 comes with a guarantee and includes the use of patented combs, enzymatic
 shampoos and rinses that get to the root of the problem by inhibiting the
 louse's ability to breed.
     "The Chicago school system constitutes 400,000 kids, each of whom
 represent a $25-dollar-per-day Federally funded subsidy," said Hair Fairies
 founder, Maria Botham. "Lice infestation is literally cutting funding from
 schools, and in this district it may represent millions of dollars. Our
 business mission is to make a socially positive impact and provide all the
 support we can for Chicago Public Schools, which has been called the 'worst
 school system in the U.S.' The last thing they need are budget cuts."
     Hair Fairies (http://www.hairfairies.com), founded in 1999, is the only
 non-toxic and guaranteed solution for the #1 reason why children miss
 school in the U.S.: head lice infestation. Lice are equal opportunity
 parasites and are spread by head-to-head contact. The brainchild of Maria
 Botham, who develops social-mission businesses, Hair Fairies salons feature
 a 3-step, strand by strand process while young guests are treated to Game
 Boys and Nintendo diversions. Hair Fairies is endorsed by physicians and
 spawned the development of the Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists (PSCS). The
 nonprofit PSCS dispatches mobile treatment vans to the underserved areas of
 Los Angeles County schools and has joined hands with Harvard University to
 study the issue of lice infestation and its impact on the U.S. education
 system. A totally unique concept, Hair Fairies is quickly spreading from
 Los Angeles to New York to San Francisco and beyond.
 
 

SOURCE Hair Fairies