Girls give up their locks for kids in need
Published: March 31, 2008
Last year, when health teacher Maura Kerkezis challenged her students at the Martha Brown Middle School in Fairport to do something for the community, she had a definite idea in mind.
Kerkezis, whose mother is a breast cancer survivor, proposed having students donate their hair to Locks of Love, a public nonprofit organization that provides hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children under 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.
According to the organization’s Web site, most children lose their hair due to a medical condition known as alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The donated hair is used to create the highest-quality hair prosthetics/hairpieces.
On Sunday morning, seven girls ages 7 to 12 answered Kerkezis’ challenge by coming to The Spa at the Del Monte in The Del Monte Lodge, 43 Main St., in Pittsford to have their hair cut for Locks of Love.
The girls, accompanied by their parents, had grown their hair long for the event. Kerkezis also participated by having her mother, Anne Beeman, 63, of Fairport, cut her hair.
Beeman, whose birthday was Sunday, was thrilled with the turnout.
“I’m so proud of them for supporting this cause,” said Beeman, who has had three bouts of breast cancer since 1999. She has been cancer free since a bilateral mastectomy 1½ years ago.
Beeman’s two granddaughters, 7-year-old Abi and 9-year-old Georgia, students at Brooks Hill Elementary School in Fairport, also had their hair cut.
“I’m extremely proud of these kids,” Kerkezis said. “Hair is a girl’s identity. To cut it off is a huge deal. This is about kids helping kids. A wonderful lesson for them.”
She added that her own daughters had watched their grandmother go through the treatments for cancer.
“It’s close to their hearts and one of the pieces they wanted to do,” Kerkezis said.
The other girls participating were Emma Brown, 10, of Canandaigua Elementary School; Caitlin Muncey, 7, of Brooks Hill; Alaina DeCamella, 7, of Paul Road Elementary School in Chili; and Aubrey Bechtold, 12, and Emma McLaughlin, 11, both of Martha Brown. Following the hair cuts, each girl’s and Kerkezis’ hair was styled.
Emma Brown said she was proud to help, but “I was sort of nervous. My hair is hard to take care of.”
Liz Brown, Emma’s mother, who is also a teacher at Martha Brown and a good friend of Kerkezis, said her mother is a 35-year breast cancer survivor.
“I’m very proud of Emma for doing this,” Brown said. “It’s a very mature decision on her part.”
Aubrey had volunteered her mother, Linda Corey, a hairstylist at the Spa at Del Monte, to cut hair.
Corey presented the idea to spa manager Lynda Plain, who said it was a good idea to give to the community.
Plain said the other stylists jumped at the chance to help. Five stylists volunteered to cut the group’s hair before the spa opened for business on Sunday. Plain said the stylists trained for the event by viewing a haircutting video on the Locks of Love Web site. This was the first time the Spa at Del Monte hosted and participated in a group event, Plain said, adding more are planned for the future.
Corey said 10 inches of hair is the required donation to Locks of Love. If the hair that is cut is less than 10 inches, it’s sold at market value and the proceeds are donated to Locks of Love.
Each girl’s dry pony tail was placed into plastic zip lock bags that will be forwarded to the organization in Lake Worth, Fla. It takes six to 10 ponytails to make one hairpiece.
“It’s great that these kids are excited about doing something bigger than they are,” Corey said.
Added her daughter Aubrey: “It made me feel good to be able to help someone. They need it more than I do.”
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: