<nday, April 26, the ACT center held the fifth annual Cuts for Cancer fundraiser. Made possible by ACT volunteers, thirteen local stylists and two massage therapists this years fundraiser was the most successful to date, bringing in over twenty five hundred dollars in proceeds.
“We have been incredibly pleased by the growth of the event each year and the ongoing support of the Carleton community,” Olivia Killeen ’10, one of the lead organizers of the event, said.
The proceeds of the event are donated to the Ted Mullen Memorial Fund for Cancer Research based at the University of Chicago. Ted Mullen was a history major and swimmer at Carleton and was slated to graduate in 2006 before passing away that year after battling recurring cancer. The University of Chicago research team focuses on identifying the causes of Sarcoma in hopes of discovering treatments that might one day lead to a cure for those fighting to beat the disease.
Changes to this year’s fundraiser included a raffle with the grand prize of a run in the Arb with President Rob Oden or a one-on-one fly fishing class. Oden further demonstrated his support for the event by offering to match the first two hundred and fifty dollars raised. Another new addition was the availability of fifteen-minute massages for ten dollars.
“The massages were a huge success,” Killen said. Despite the challenge of finding massage therapists to volunteer their time, Killeen said that the massages were definitely something they are going to capitalize on in the future.
A second function of the event was to provide the opportunity for students to donate hair to the Locks of Love Foundation. Locks of Love is an organization that makes wigs from donated hair for children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Although participation in Locks for Loves was not required, of the one hundred haircuts given on Monday, nearly one in five students chose to donate their hair to Locks of Love. Marlena Hartman-Filson ’13 simply signed up for a haircut but said on arrival “I’ve been thinking of cutting my hair short for a long time and this seemed like the perfect time to do it! Now I get to enjoy new short hair while somebody else gets to wear mine!”
Volunteer stylists came from Great Clips, Studio 300, Buzz Salon, Fantastic Sam’s, Salon Synergy, Luis Enrique and Heads or Nails.