Suddenly Samantha, an Easton salon, hosted the fundraiser this afternoon.
One-fifth of the world's fresh air comes from the Amazon.
"So that means every fifth breath we take in Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton, that oxygen comes from the Amazon," said Melanie Smith.
The Phillipsburg native and yoga instructor has spent the last year trying to raise $20,000 for Off the Mat, Into the World's Global Seva Challenge. The annual service project picks a different cause to get behind each year.When Smith learned the 2013 beneficiary of the grass-roots fundraising effort would be the Amazon, she knew it was a cause she had to get behind. The Bethlehem resident loves the outdoors.
"The environment is very important to me," Smith said today during a fundraiser at Suddenly Samantha salon in Downtown Easton.
Salon owner Steve Flowers opened this afternoon to offer $30 haircuts, cuts normally go for $60, and $10 paraffin hand treatments. He donated all proceeds to Smith's fundraising.
A fellow yogi, Flowers said he wanted to support his friend's efforts.
"I thought it'd be a great event," he said.
Smith's yoga connections also got Lehigh University student Adam Kleintop into a stylist's chair. His girlfriend takes classes at the Yoga Loft in Bethlehem, where Smith teaches, and told him about the fundraiser.
He came to Easton to get a discounted cut, just in time for the first day of the spring semester Monday.
Smith said she expected the event would get her to $10,000, halfway to her $20,000 goal with only four days left. There is a chance she could be randomly selected by the challenge to receive anonymous donations that would get her over the threshold.
"If I stop at 10-grand that's still a big chunk of change for people in need," Smith said.
Even if she doesn't hit the target, Smith says it has been a worthwhile, rewarding endeavor.
"It's been an incredible challenge and a learning experience," she said.
She joined the effort to see what she could accomplish and hone her leadership skills. But she's grown increasingly passionate about preserving the lands of the Amazon rainforest and protecting those who have called it home for hundreds of years, she said.
The rainforest and the people who reside there are being threatened by deforestation and oil production, Smith said. The funds raised support challenge partners in Ecuador, who will provide health care, clean drinking water and micro-credit for indigenous people and farmers living in remote areas of the rainforest.
Since March, Smith's held other fundraising events, including celebrity bartending, a yoga-thon and a clothing exchange, where for $20 participants could swap clothes. She's also gotten local restaurants to donate proceeds of sales on certain nights.
"The local community has been so, so generous," Smith said. "It's just been overwhelmingly helpful.
"I'm really trying," she said.