It's only hair

I had often thought about shaving my head as a way to fundraise for charity but hadn't quite plucked up the courage to do it until my daughter Jo said she was also thinking about it. The "shaveforacure" promotion for Leukaemia and other blood diseases was in full swing so I said "I'm willing if you are" and so our campaign began with the aim of raising $2,500. We both work for Davis Funerals and thought we had better get permission from management before taking the plunge and were pleased to get their blessings.

Jo got stuck in with the registration on line and e-mailed all our contacts asking for sponsorship and it didn't take long for the pledges to start coming in, along with comments such as "I could never do that!" and "rather you than me". Maybe we hadn't given much thought as to how it would affect us personally and how we would feel without any hair and that was probably a good thing!

Because we would be losing our hair just as the weather was cooling, I set to knitting beanies while Jo organised some collection buckets. Jo collected money from people while she was at a BMX Meet with her family, and I walked around the Takapuna Flea Market soliciting donations. We had some interesting experiences along the way with some people avoiding us and others coming up to give us support and tell us about their personal experiences of illness within their families. The most powerful and humbling experience was when a 14 year old girl came and sat next to Jo at the BMX Meet and told her she had leukaemia. It was the first time Jo had spoken to someone who was directly affected with our cause and it was very moving for her, giving her a very real insight into the realities of the disease. Jo really felt the value of what we were doing, realising that this was the most selfless thing she has done so far.

It was really exciting to see the very generous pledges coming in from our friends and family and our total was rapidly rising. Jo walked through a queue of cars waiting to board the Waiheke ferry and collected further funds and we were greatly encouraged. I don't think we realised how hard it would be for us to approach people to ask for money because we have never found it easy to approach strangers in any situation. We simply had to focus on our cause and keep on pushing through our comfort zone.

As you can tell Jo did all the organising and arranged with Rodney Wayne Salon in St Lukes to perform our ritual shave and also spoke to Westfield to get permission to make another collection before the event. Brent from work did a wonderful job of creating a sign for us to carry advertising our intention to shave our heads, and our 3 year old Xanthee carried the collection bucket. We managed to make another good amount and gained a supportive audience to join the other family, friends and workmates who came to support us. We also had a photographer, David Cooper who generously donated his time to take before and after photos for us and speaking for myself this was about when the nerves kicked in!

We decided we wanted to face away from the mirrors until the shaves, which were being done simultaneously, were complete so instead we faced our supporters watching their expressions which varied from laughter to horror! Jo had a lot more hair to lose than me but had the benefit of a dark hairline, whereas my thinner grey hair left nothing much to show after our very close shave! I saw Jo's cut before I saw mine and she looked really stunning and I was sure I was not going to look anything like that, but never mind, it's only hair after all and it will grown back – eventually.

Jo was really confident to be seen right from day one, whereas I felt I needed to explain that I wasn't ill to people at first. I realised how vulnerable it could feel being hairless and how conspicuous this made me feel; it gave me just a little insight into the effects the treatment of these types of illnesses can have.

We made $3002 with our efforts and we are very proud of ourselves. The whole experience has enriched us, given us the opportunity to really give of ourselves and we have learnt a lot about the people we have had contact with. We wholeheartedly recommend the experience to anyone who is willing to lose their hair for a cause, and thank those who have opted to support us instead.

If you would like to talk to someone about how
Davis Funerals can help, please call us.

Mt Eden: (09) 638 9026, Henderson: (09) 835 3557, Pakuranga: (09) 576 7108