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Cutting her hair for a good cause

Lois Schreiner doesn’t know what she will look like without hair, but in a little over a month she will find out.
Barrhead Public Library assistant Lois Schreiner will be losing her long locks as part of the Hair Massacure fundraiser for the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the
Barrhead Public Library assistant Lois Schreiner will be losing her long locks as part of the Hair Massacure fundraiser for the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the Children’s Make a Wish Foundation.

Lois Schreiner doesn’t know what she will look like without hair, but in a little over a month she will find out.

That is because Schreiner will join thousands of other Albertans who will shave off all their hair as part of Hair Massacure — a fundraiser for the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the Children’s Make a Wish Foundation.

The event encourages people to dye their hair pink, fundraise for the participating charities, then shave off their hair in a massive head-shaving event. The charity also uses the hair it collects and donates it to an organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their own due to illness. For Northern Alberta the mass shaving takes place March 23, at West Edmonton Mall at the Ice Palace.

The event was created by Tammy Macdonald in 2003, as a way for her family to give back after her youngest child, Kali, survived leukemia at age two.

“I have always had hair, even when I was born,” said the part-time Barrhead Public Library assistant. “I am not sure what my head will look like underneath all of that, maybe it has all sorts of bumps and things. If it does I will just have to wear a hat.”

As for why Schreiner, who is in her 60s, has decided to participate in the event, she said it is something she has considered doing for many years, but it wasn’t until this year that she seriously considered taking the plunge.

Like most people, Schreiner has known people that have been impacted by cancer. In the last two years alone, she said three of her close friends have either been diagnosed, or died from the disease.

Schreiner said it is to honour these people that she decided to participate.

She said she was nervous about the prospect of losing her hair.

“I have had long hair all my life and people with long hair traditionally have a problem having anything cut off,” she said, adding when she gets a hair cut the most she asks to get cut is two inches. “Because when you ask for two you know they are going to cut four [inches], but when I look at my friends and what they have gone or are currently going through this is not that hard. I can do this.”

Schreiner joked that she hoped it would be warm March 23.

“If it’s not I guess I’m going to be really cold, but I think they give out pink toques to the participants and depending on the weather it will be more than a memento, but something practical.”

Funds directed to the Alberta Cancer Foundation will go towards two programs: the Terry Fox Profile, which is a pediatric research program, and the Adolescent and Young Adult patient navigator program, which supports people in the 15 to 29 age bracket. Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada is the largest and only all-Canadian wish granting charity dedicated to granting wishes to Canadian children between the ages of three and 17 who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

For those interested in donating to Schreiner’s campaign, visit www.hairmassacure.com and click Northern Alberta. From there, click on ‘I want to Donate’ and select ‘Pledge a Participant’ and type in ‘Schreiner’.

The library is also taking donations on Schreiner’s behalf.


Barry Kerton

About the Author: Barry Kerton

Barry Kerton is the managing editor of the Barrhead Leader, joining the paper in 2014. He covers news, municipal politics and sports.
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