A high five to Helene Hutchings and her volunteers for organizing another successful Hair Donation Ottawa event today to support cancer research. With donations still coming in, the event will raise at least $90,000. Hutchings is pictured above with the CHEO Bear, watching as Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson shaves Stittsville councillor Shad Qadri’s head. (Photo by Barry Gray.)
This is the 8th annual edition of the event. Participants donated at least six inches of their hair, or shaved their head as part of the fundraiser. Money raised goes a number of programs including adult and childhood cancer research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and The Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, and two annual bursaries to Algonquin College students. All hair donations go towards the custom manufacture and fitting of approximately 10 free wigs a year for financially challenged children in Ottawa region who are experiencing hair loss for a variety of medical reasons.