An East Village salon with Nepalese roots

EVG reader Christina Z., a client of the Jin Soon Natural Hand & Foot Spa, submitted the following to us in the aftermath of Saturday's 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Nepal that, to date, has left more than 4,000 people dead … with that number expected to climb in the days ahead…

One of the gems of the East Village, Jin Soon Natural Hand & Foot Spa at 56 E. Fourth St., between Second Avenue and the Bowery, predominately employs nail technicians with deep roots to Nepal.

The owner, Jin Soon Choi (born in South Korea), is well-known in the beauty and fashion industry. She has three salons in Manhattan. The East Village location, which opened in 1999, was her first. Most of the employees in the salons have family in Nepal, many have worked in our neighborhood for years.

The East Village Jin Soon Spa remained open for business as the workers kept updated on the news from Nepal. Fortunately, those at the East Fourth Street location have been in communication with their Nepalese loved ones. However, with the aftershocks and the daunting road to recovery, there is ongoing concern for everyone affected by the devastating earthquake.

The nail technicians at the East Village Jin Soon are starting a collection for a village or family in Nepal that needs it most. They encourage donations through charities. Here are some options:

• Jin Soon Choi Team Page on Crowdrise: Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund: Prabal Gurung & Shikshya Foundation in Nepal

• International Medical Corps: Nepal Earthquake Response

• Red Cross: Nepal Earthquake Relief

• New York Times article on charities focusing on Nepal Relief

Jin, Nandu, Resham, Laxmi, Tara, Tsering and all at Jin Soon Spa thank the neighborhood for their kind words and encourage donations to help the relief efforts in that earthquake-ravaged nation.