Jayden Fischer, 7, doesn't seem to know what to make of her first haircut.
By CHANEL MARTIN / chanel.martin@jacksonville.com
What could have been a somewhat somber event Saturday was instead a celebration of life, as the 8th annual Kutting for Kids collected hair for Locks of Love. Between two locations — the Orange Park Mall and the American Academy of Cosmetology on Blanding Boulevard — 310 donations and $510 was collected in only four hours.
With minimum hair donations at 10 inches when tied in a pony tail, it amounts to a lot of hair for charity.
Volunteer hairdressers were kept busy providing free hair cuts for women, men and children alike. Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that collects hair to create wigs for children who’ve lost their hair due to cancer treatments, Alopecia or other causes.
Extra media coverage helped bring new faces to Kutting for Kids, such as Nikki Rayes of Middleburg. “I heard about it on the news, I needed a haircut and figured I’d do a good deed,” she said. Rayes added that she would “most definitely” donate her hair again “when it grows out.”
Another fresh face was 7-year-old Jayden Fischer of Jacksonville, who had her first haircut and ended up providing 13 inches of hair. Her mom, Jennifer, was next in line.
Men were well represented, such as veteran donator Joel Christian of Jacksonville. It takes him two years to grow his hair into the 12-inch braid that he lops off for charity, but “braided hair is twice as long” when unravelled, so he actually donates closer to 24 inches each time, explained hairdresser Pat Beahan of Salon @ 220.
This is Christian’s third donation in the past six years. “I’m glad men are doing it, because men need it [wigs] too,” added Ned Greene of Salon on the Boulevard.
Like the Fischers, Matt and Norma Overton made Kutting for Kids a family affair, with Matt donating “about 11 inches” and Norma cutting about 12. “It’s a really small sacrifice to make a big difference in a kid’s life,” she said, adding that son Ian might join the donations in a few years, “if he ever grows hair.”
One of the more excitable participants was photographer Marie Moran. Diagnosed with breast cancer three years ago, the disease has gone metastatic; Moran is now in her third round of chemotherapy, yet has still donated her own hair for the past few years.
“If I’m gonna lose my hair, it’s gonna be on my own terms,” Moran said.
Being a part of the event and being public about her diagnosis “helps people open up” about the disease and Locks of Love. Moran also provides free portraits for cancer patients, and shows off the creative ways she let her four children paint her head on her Web site, www.moranphotoart.com.