Year 12 Charity – Cuts for Cancer
On 12 March, Year 12 will be participating in Cuts for Cancer. We will be cutting 20cm off our hair to donate to Sustainable Salons, who will use our hair to make wigs for people suffering from Leukaemia.
The donation goal this year is $15,000, and we hope that you can help us meet this goal!
47 Australians are diagnosed with blood cancer every day. Australians that have their jobs, family, hair and even life taken away from them.
Your money will aid the fight against leukaemia through the Australian foundations, The World’s Greatest Shave, and the Leukaemia Foundation.
A proportion of the money donated goes to families with leukaemia. This means the money goes to families of people who need to travel hours to receive treatment and have constant hospitalisation due to the strong chemotherapy that leukaemia requires.
Families will often have to pay for external accommodation whilst a family member is having treatment. This money goes towards that care and providing them with support.
Also, during treatment it is rare for the person to continue work, so this money helps compensate their lost income.
The remaining donations go towards Australian research to develop better methods of treatment that are not as invasive and harsh as chemo. Your donations will help this important cause immensely.
But you may be wondering… what happens to the hair that all the Year 12s will cut off?
The hair itself contributes to making wigs for chemotherapy patients, in the goal of making them more accessible. Good quality, real hair wigs cost upwards of $2,500, though usually around $10,000 – $25,000, making them very hard to get for the people that need them.
The price is so high is because of the lack of hair donations (it takes 20, 20cm ponytails to make one wig), and because of the time it takes to make.
The hair that is not long enough for wigs (less than 20cm) goes to cleaning up oil spills across the world, helping to keep our oceans cleaner and their environments varied. Hair itself repels water while actively absorbing oil, making it a very effective tool for this task.
You can find out more about these foundations at these sites:
https://www.doitforcancer.com.au/ways-to-do-it/shave-cut-colour
https://worldsgreatestshave.com
https://www.leukaemia.org.au/
All donations are welcome, no matter how big or small, so use this link to help fight the fight against leukaemia!
Abby Burge, Head Prefect and
Mia Freeland, Deputy Head Prefect
