When Carter McKenzie’s mum, Alice Masi, noted how long his hair was getting, she told him offhandedly how some people would grow their hair and donate it, as well as raise money for a cause. “He’s got lovely hair. I told him, ‘you know, there are people who would love to have your hair,” she said.
Cart McKenzie raised a little less than $1,000 by growing and shaving off his hair.
Carter, with his parents Alice Masi and James McKenzie, decided to grow his hair
for a cause in winter last year. They researched various worthy causes and chose
Shave for a Cure, Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand’s signature fundraising event.
When he shaved off his thick curly locks on August 22, the eight-year-old pupil from
St Patrick’s, Kaponga raised $735.
The school also had a “wacky hair day” on the day of the shave and raised an additional
$109.
“Pretty awesome for a school with fewer than 30 students,” Ms Masi said.
Carter heaved a sigh of relief when it was over, adding that he liked having his hair cut “because I had my short hair back”.
Brushing his hair was the worst part of the fundraiser, Carter said. “I had to do heaps of shampooing and it gets knotty,” he said.
Carter’s hair needed to be grown to a specific length and have had no colours or other chemical treatments. It was cut when it reached 30 centimetres in length.
Ms Masi said there were times when Carter wanted to quit.
“It was quite hard for him when it was hot. It was like wearing a woolly hat all the
time. But it’s an important lesson on doing things that you said you were going to do,”
she said.
Carter’s hair was donated to Freedom Wigs, a company in Dunedin that makes hairpieces for people with extreme hair loss relating to their medical conditions.
“Freedom Wigs buys the hair, depending on the quality and the length. The proceeds
of that will be donated to Starship,” Ms Masi said.
She explained that Carter had a little cousin who spent some time in Starship.
St Patrick’s principal Sue Harrison praised Carter’s commitment to helping others in need.
“We’re pretty proud of him and everybody supported him. The kids were pretty excited to see his hair cut off,” she said.
Ms Masi said the best part was Carter realising the goodness that comes from helping others.
“Kids can be self-absorbed at times. It was nice for him to know that he can feel good helping others,” she said.
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