NSU’s Locks for Cause will hold the fifth annual For Hair’s Sake cut-a-thon to collect hair and donations for Locks of Love on March 15 in the Don Taft University Center Spine from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides wigs for children who suffer from alopecia or have lost their hair due to cancer treatments.
This year, NSU’s student-run organization Locks for Cause is teaming up with the Health Professions Division and Pediatric Club to work with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity that funds the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and help give survivors long, healthy lives.
Local hairstylists will provide free haircuts to anyone who participates in the event. For hair to be donated, it must be at least 6 inches long, clean, dry and unbleached. The stylists will cut the hair while it is in a ponytail or braid, and then style the remaining hair to the person’s liking.
The cut-a-thon is open to NSU students, faculty, staff and members of the community. There will be pizza, refreshments, music and a performance by the Sharkettes.
Locks for Cause President Lisa Pace, senior biology major, said teaming up is a great way to help expand the event.
“By working together, we can reach a larger group of participants and strive toward making bigger steps in the fight against cancer,” she said.
Locks for Cause Founder Lesly Viera, graduate student in the College of Dental Medicine, established “For Hair’s Sake” in her senior year of high school and brought it to NSU during her freshman year.
Viera, a survivor of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, said she is amazed to see organizations teaming up to make an impact for this cause.
“It’s exciting news to hear, and I hope that in future years even more organizations will want to be involved,” she said.
Pediatrics Club President Patricia Camino, second year medical student in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, said joining forces will foster cooperation between undergraduate and graduate programs.
“Collaboration is a great tool to build teamwork and to become an integral piece in the community,” she said.
Locks for Cause Adviser, Taylor Dahlby, graduate assistant for training and development in the Office of Campus Recreation, said this event encourages students to get involved in spreading the awareness for cancer.
“Our help provides the support that those individuals need to make a diagnosis a little bit more bearable,” she said. “NSU’s backing of such an event showcases its unyielding care for its students and their friends and families who have been affected by cancer.”
Viera said self-esteem is an issue for children who lose their hair.
“When we donate our hair, we are not only making a wig for a needy child, but we are also ensuring that they can continue to live their normal lives as much as possible, at least on their days outside of the hospital,” she said.
Camino said students should participate in events that give back to such great causes.
“A person really gets to see the good they can accomplish when giving back; participating in events like this helps to keep the drive going when you start to forget what it is you’re actually driving toward,” she said.
Dahlby said our generation of students has the power to spread awareness of cancer research and to work toward finding a cure.
“Our ability to navigate social channels and broadcast information almost immediately gives us the opportunity to reach our surrounding communities to help support this fight and, unfortunately, students aren’t immune to this disease,” she said.
Dahlby said, “Students need to realize that by getting involved, they’re not only helping cancer patients, but they’re also helping friends, family, classmates, colleagues, mentors and the global community as a whole.”
Since the event’s inception, NSU has collected at least 200 ponytails for donation every year.
“Words can’t describe how I feel about the organization continuing even after I graduated,” Viera said. “It’s such a blessing to have been a part of such an amazing cause, and to watch it grow and continue to help children in need is much more rewarding than anything I could have ever envisioned.”
Individuals who would like to donate their hair do not need to sign up prior to the event. For more information about the event or Locks for Cause, contact Pace at lp840@nova.edu.
