1 Plait, 2 plait, 3 plait- Gone!
Last week a very brave eight-year-old, Ashlyn Purss chopped her locks in front of her school community at Borenore Public.
This wasn’t just any general haircut, Ashlyn had been growing her hair “her whole life” so she knew if she was going to cut it, it would be for a great cause. Ashlyn and her Mother, Leanne decided on donating to Variety- the Children’s Charity, ‘Hair with Heart’, where her hair will be used to make wigs for those who have lost theirs due to a medical condition.
Borenore Public school supported Ashlyn’s event by hosting a crazy hair day and a gold coin donation. Students who donated received a ticket into the raffle of cutting off one of Ashlyn’s plaits, that lucky winner was student, Layla, along with Ashlyn herself, Mrs Guisard and her mum, Leanne.
Ashlyn explained, “I was a little bit scared but happy because I know that it’s going to a good cause. It makes me feel special that everyone at school got involved and did crazy hair, if I wasn’t getting my hair cut it would have been just a boring old Friday.”
Leanne added, “We initially set the target (two weeks ago) at $150 and cleared that within a couple of hours of posting it online, so we bumped it to $350 as an achievable total and we have actually raised $957. We have had some very generous people; Ashlyn is very lucky.”
As the final plait was cut, echos of encouragement and clapping filled the undercover area, “That actually looks really cool, you look great Ashlyn!” followed by questions including “How do you feel? Will you do it again? Is your neck cold?”
Principal, Mrs Hopkins explained, “I think having Ashlyn make the generous donation of her hair, it was a very personal experience for all of the students, they were all very excited.It was also nice for the children to acknowledge people who need to access that service and facility.”
Don’t worry, Ashlyn had a ‘real’ haircut booked for after school so it could get tidied up. The school community then had one final celebration- eating red jelly cups.
Congratulations on your selfless act Ashlyn, you’re a champion!
‘Variety’ is a Children’s Charity helping thousands of kids who are sick, disadvantaged, or have special needs through various grants and programs, including granting wigs to kids that have lost their hair due to a medical condition for example, Alopecia.
