Benicia High students donate hair to benefit cancer victims

(Originally published in the 4/22/16 edition)

   On Thursday, the Multi Purpose Room at Benicia High School became a miniature barbershop where girls could get haircuts for a good cause. The Make the Cut event was part of hair care company Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths campaign in which eight inches of hair would be donated to the company to made into wigs for cancer victims.

   The event was the brainchild of junior Clare Rodgers, who had donated hair twice before and lost someone close to her to cancer.

   “My good friend Mille Duvall passed away from cancer and lost her hair,” she said.

   Rodgers began promoting the event on social media and put fliers around campus. She ended up getting seven participants, which was more than she expected.

   “I was expecting five people, so when we got seven, that was really awesome,” she said. “It’s great to see people support their friends.”

   Additionally, Rodgers sent out an email to Class of 2013 alumna Samantha Cruz, who works at Peter Thomas Hair in Berkeley. Cruz then brought along her co-worker Terra Allen to assist with the haircutting.

   “I have done cuts for people donating hair before but not as a whole event,” Allen said. “I thought it would be a really good opportunity to help others.”

   One of the participants was sophomore Lily Chase whose mother Theresa was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008. Theresa was the first person to get her hair cut.

   “I’m glad my mom was able to get the first cut so I could show respect to her and her fight,” Lily said.

   Other participants were happy to help in any way they could.

   “I’d been growing my hair out for a long time with the intention of really growing it out,” sophomore Morgan Bundy said. “I wanted to do something good instead of just cut it.”

   Everyone agreed that donating hair was a strong way to provide support for the many people who have experienced such a widespread disease.

   “There are a lot of people who have been touched by cancer,” Allen said. “I recently found out my grandmother has two months to live, so I wanted to help out. It’s a very good cause.”

   To learn more about the campaign, visit pantene.com and click on the “Beautiful Lengths” tab. 

Photo by Nick Sestanovich

Terra Allen cuts sophomore Lily Chase's hair at Benicia High School's Make the Cut event, in which students donated 8 inches of hair to Pantene, which then makes the hair into a wig for cancer victims. Chase's mother Theresa was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was the first to have her hair cut that day.