When member Neil Godsey first approached the Rotary Club of Pacific Palisades about hosting a Beauty Bus event, president Dick Meyer’s response was, ‘Why would the Rotarians host a beauty bus?’ After Godsey explained that Beauty Bus is a nonprofit foundation established to provide beauty care and pampering to homebound patients and their primary caregivers, Meyer persuaded the club to organize a March 28 event at Aldersgate Retreat Center on Haverford. The Rotarians also donated $1,000 to the Beauty Bus Foundation. Godsey knew about the organization because his wife, Heather Mischer, is a longtime friend of co-founder Wendy Marantz Levine, who moved to Pacific Palisades in 2003. ‘When my mother-in-law Beverly, a longtime Palisadian, got brain cancer in 2005, it turned our lives upside down,’ said Godsey, a financial representative with Northwestern Mutual.’For two and a half years, she needed 24-hour, seven-days-a-week care. I saw how difficult it was not only because she was suffering, but that the role of the caregivers was extremely emotional and stressful.’ Meyer added, ‘I became concerned for the caregivers, because I learned that after three years many of them, especially if they are not professional and don’t know how to take care of themselves, burn out.’ On Monday, 29 clients, including a male caregiver, received special pampering from 10 beauty professionals, most of whom have businesses in the Palisades. They were treated to manicures (Rosie’s Nails), massages (Oasis Palisades), hair styling (Dry Bar), facials (Self Centre) and makeup provided by a professional makeup artist. Food and coffee were donated by Scarlett’s Cupcakes, Kay ‘n’ Dave’s and Starbucks. Each guest received a bag of donated beauty products. Levine co-founded the nonprofit with her cousin, Alicia Marantz Liotta, after Levine’s sister, Melissa, died from a neuromuscular disease in 2005. ‘When my sister was sick, my cousin arranged for her to have her hair done,’ Levine said. ‘It let my sister have a moment ‘outside’ away from her disease.’ After her sister died, Levine and her cousin, whose parents Richard and Roberta Marantz live in Pacific Palisades, discussed what they could do in Melissa’s memory. They spoke about how uplifting it was for Melissa to have beauty care and thought they would volunteer for an organization that provided those services. To their surprise, there was no such organization, so in 2009 they started one. ‘We left our full-time jobs last year,’ Levine said, noting that they now have two full-time employees, two part-time employees and more than 100 volunteers. Levine, a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School in 1999, worked for a federal judge, A. Wallace Tashima, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Pasadena. Liotta was the West Coast editor for Modern Salon magazine, and is currently on maternity leave. ‘They’re caring for loved ones,’ Levine said, as she watched her ‘clients’ receive beauty treatments at Aldersgate. ‘We wanted them to come to a beautiful place and be pampered. It’s such a gift for them and we’re glad to honor Melissa’s memory.’ In addition to hosting monthly events like the one in the Palisades, volunteers from BBF also make in-home visits to homebound, chronically or terminally ill men and women; they also pamper those patients’ primary caregivers.   The nonprofit will be featured on the ABC reality show, ‘Secret Millionaire,’ on Sunday, April 10, at 8 p.m. r
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