Seniors get beauty care by GlamourGals

When the troupe of mini-manicurists arrived at Ozanam Hall, a senior residence in Bayside, their customers were already waiting in the large TV room. Lined up at eight foldout tables, the women rested their hands on pieces of white paper, laid out to catch any of the polish that dripped from their fingers.
A sign-up sheet had been passed around, and the women got in line for manicures, facials, and makeup - all to be performed by a group of girl scouts who visited the senior residence as part of the “GlamourGals” event.
“I think they are so sweet,” raved 84-year-old Adele Morabido, of Bayside, who had her digits painted bright blue. “They do such a nice job.”
In January, about a dozen girl scouts from Flushing had formed their own chapter of GlamourGals, a non-profit that arranges for teen and pre-teen girls to visit seniors in nursing homes and give free manicures and facials. So each month, the scouts - from troop 4725, 4525, and 4625 - plan to visit the Ozanam Hall, said Joy Lu, scout leader of Troop 4725, whose daughters - Rosie and Julie - were among the seven scouts to visit.
In March, the event had been so successful that the girls wanted to come back again - this time for Mother’s Day - and again at the end of May on Memorial Day weekend.
“It gives the girls the opportunity to interact with the ladies and learn more about community service,” Lu explained.
“And the price is right,” joked Morabido’s pal, 94-year-old Olga Rivinius.
As the scouts painted, they talked to the women about a number of things - what hobbies they had enjoyed as children, where they had lived, and current beauty trends.
And seniors like Morabido shot back beauty advice.
“I have every color [polish] under the rainbow … blue, green, red, even black,” she said, as she showed her manicurist Islam Jaber, 14, how to dip fingers in polish remover so that the leftover paint loosens.
As the older girls - 10-year-old Terresa Yen, Islam and her 12-year-old sister, Hind - performed most of the painting, polishing and pampering, 12-year-old Julie Lu ran hurriedly about the large room, snapping Polaroid photos of the manicurist.
When the pictures developed, the younger scouts - Karen Yen and Rosie Lu - taped them to the front of homemade cards, pasted stickers around the edges, and scrawled, “Happy Mother’s Day!” on the inside.
Morabido cooed when she received her card, and her daughter, Connie David of Little Neck, pointed to the smiling faces of her mom and Islam in the picture.
After her facial - comprised of a cleanser, moisturizer, and a dusting of blush - Rivinius examined the results in an enlarged mirror and nodded in approval.
“I like the makeup. They are very nice girls to work with. They are all very nice,” she said.
And across the room, another senior, Sally Cawley, had trouble enunciating since she had suffered from a stroke. So Cawley began to use sign language to communicate what she had to say.
“Why is a reporter asking for my name?” she signed.
And her 12-year-old manicurist Hind Jaber signed right back - telling her with quick finger motions that it was for a newspaper story.
Jaber asked Cawley if she planned to put the card that the scouts made on her dresser, and Cawley shook her head and signed back an answer.
“[On] her night table,” Jaber explained.