What started off as one little girl’s dream to help sick kids turned into a gym full of students cheering on their peers while they shaved their heads for the Make-a-Wish Foundation at Glendon School on Nov. 30.
The fundraiser “got way bigger than we thought it would,” said Wanda Marsh, whose daughter Trinity started it.
Trinity and her friends Reece Ganser and Chelsea Wolosiewicz were the first to get their heads shaved, followed by their brothers, fathers and a cousin.
With her newly-shaven head, Trinity said it felt cold, but nodded when asked if it felt good to help out.
“I think I was more nervous than she was,” said her mother, adding she was relieved because she thought Trinity would cry.
The group has raised just over $25,000 to date with more money still coming in, enough to grant three wishes. Marsh and Chelsea’s mother, Andrea Wolosiewicz, agreed to shave their heads if their daughters reached $16,000, so when they hit the magic number at the silent auction/talent show on Dec. 2, the women took the plunge.
Marsh said although the head shave was emotional, it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. She said it was nice to do it for the girls so they wouldn’t feel alone with their shaved heads.
Local country singer Brett Kissel came out to the event and presented the three girls with CDs, DVDs and signed toques and T-shirts.
Another brave boy who decided to shave his head at the Nov. 30 event was 13-year-old Terrence Gadwa who is from Kehewin, but who plays for the Glendon Comets. Terrence wore his hair in a long braid that reached midway down his back. Before Tuesday, he hadn’t had a haircut in five years.
When asked if he was nervous while waiting in line to get shaved, he replied, “Not at all.”
He donated his hair to Locks of Love, a group that provides hairpieces to children who have lost their hair through illness.
Terrence has a “big heart for children,” said his mother Pamela Gadwa, explaining how his uncle is a cancer survivor and his niece had a bone marrow transplant.
After watching his son “brave it out,” and a nudge from the other fathers who supported their daughters by shaving their heads, Terrence’s father Clifford Gadwa also decided to shave his mid-back-length locks and challenged his son’s teammates from the Comets to step up to the challenge as well. Soon after, eight boys came up from the audience and to the stage to get a shave and help out the cause.
Hairdressers Jennifer Campeau, Nicole Martin and Brandi Whelen, Trinity’s aunt, were the volunteer head-shavers for the event.
Whelen, who works in Magic Fingers in St. Paul, said she collected money on behalf of Trinity as well, and noted there was an outpouring of support to help Trinity realize her dream. “I just wanted to pass along a thank you to any friends and family and clients who contributed to help this little girl achieve her goal,” she said.
