GOOD FOR THE SOLE Sending unique care packages overseas

Nearly five years ago, Wendy Gerlach of Moorhead attended a home product party, mainly to appease the host. A couple hours later, she emerged changed.

One might call it a conversion of the sole. The merchandise, Lemongrass Spa Products, comprises a line of all-natural massage products to soothe weary limbs, including feet.

The transformation led Wendy to reach overseas to soldiers through an initiative called Operation Freedom Feet.

To her, the endeavor has always been more mission field than sales pitch. Around the time she received her consultant’s kit, Wendy began feeling a divine nudge to branch out beyond her job as owner of a cleaning business. Specifically, she believed her work would entail ministering to the imprisoned. But her husband, Vaughan, had misgivings, so Wendy prayed and talked to a spiritual mentor. “She reminded me women are imprisoned financially, emotionally, and so many other ways,” Wendy recounted. “That blew the doors wide open for me.”

She began spending time at the feet of anyone who seemed weary in any way, serving them with a simple bucket and spa products.

And then, when Lemongrass implemented Operation Freedom Feet to offer foot-scrub kits to war-trodden female soldiers in the Middle East, everything came together. “These women are imprisoned halfway around the world … because they cannot come home and tuck their kids in at night,” she said.

“They’re over there — just like we are here — so busy pouring out they don’t take time to pour back in.”

Many soldiers have shared their gratitude over the gift containing a cucumber scrub, soak, and cream — simple things that make a profound difference to someone in the trenches. “It touches a point deep within them. This is a care package unlike any other they’ve received.”

One soldier was preparing to soak her feet on Christmas Day when sirens and bombs began going off. In bare feet, she dashed away with her gun to hunker down with the rest of her battalion. Eventually, she returned to the foot tub and started over. “We can’t begin to imagine the stress,” Wendy said.

She’s grateful to the community for its generosity. A recent “Loot for the Boot” effort resulted in enough loose change to send 90 foot kits to Iraq and Afghanistan. But it’s well short of the company’s goal of 2,011 foot kits in 2011. “It’s been heartbreaking to me to not be able to reach that goal,” Wendy said, noting that ultimately, she’s hoping for corporate sponsorship to add to individual efforts.

In sharing the product locally, Wendy keeps in mind that almost everyone carries burdens. “I try to provide an environment that allows people to release their day into that bucket,” she said. “To me, it’s never been about lotions and potions.” [AWM]

To help send foot kits to woman soldiers, call Wendy at 701-729-8021, email lemongrasswendy.aol.com or visit www.OurLemongrassSpa.com/246