School raises over $25,000 for Hair Massacre
Published: February 14, 2006
The students at Gibbons School knew they were doing a good deed by raising money for the St. Valentine’s Day Hair Massacre, but they never knew it would get this far.
Over 100 students, staff and parents have raised over $27,400 for the Hair Massacre, which took place on Monday and Tuesday at West Edmonton Mall.
The money will go towards Kids With Cancer and the Make A Wish Foundation.
“Not in our wildest dreams did we think it would go this far,” said Principal Brian Farell. “We started small, the kids have just been awesome.”
Part of the Hair Massacre was for students to dye their hair a shocking pink before the shaving, in effort to raise more money.
Apparently that worked.
Farell had promised his students that if they raised $5000 he would shave his own head. In addition to the shaving, he dyed his hair pink on Monday morning before leaving for West Edmonton Mall.
Students of every background stepped forward to shave their heads.
Kayla Gemmell, 10 years old, has yellow-blonde hair that flows down her back. She cut her hair to shoulder-length and will donate it to be made into a wig for a cancer patient.
“I’m doing it for people with cancer,” said Gemmell, who has only ever just trimmed her hair. “I was kind of scared, but I’m happy to do this.”
Erin Shaw was the first student to say she would dye and shave her head. She raised $1350 for the Massacre.
“I went to friends, family, the church,
4-H,” said Shaw, who loved the pink look, saying she could never dye her hair that color otherwise. “Everyone was blown away, the support was amazing.”
Shaw said she has known many people with cancer, some who have passed away from the disease.
“This gets people aware,” she said, adding that “it is only hair.”
“It saves time in the morning.”
One of the most extraordinary people who shaved their head is Linda Bauder, a janitor for the school for the past 13 years.
She saw the sign-up sheet at the school and decided to go for it.
“There isn’t anyone not affected by cancer,” she said. “This is for the kids. They have no choice.”
Bauder raised $2000 for the Massacre, and did it in a unique way.
“People would laugh at my pink hair, and I’d go up to them and explain what I was doing and ask if they wanted to donate.
“I thought $500 would be fantastic. But this is super, beyond my wildest dreams.”
Justin Stang plays guitar and has shoulder-length hair. He raised $525 for the Massacre. Since his hair has never been dyed, he too will be donating his hair to be made into a wig.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “This is pretty big.”
Even with faith in his students that they would do what they could for the Massacre, Farell said the action is greatly appreciated.
“There was no way I’d have done it at their age. This is not a burden, every type of person is doing this. It has brought us all closer.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: