Our givebacks: Hair today; gone tomorrow, and all for a very good cause

Jeriluanne O’Bryan-Losee thought that shaving her head would be a great way to thumb her nose at turning 40.

She had no idea how many lives she’d touch by that act.

The Morrisville UUPer had her shoulder-length locks sheared to half-inch stubble in March—three days before her 40th birthday—at an annual “hair shaving” event in Norwich to generate donations for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a California-based non-profit that supports childhood cancer research.

A local newspaper story publicizing her hair-cutting plans appeared a few weeks before the event, which helped her raise $1,700 in donations. A few days after the story ran, an odd, misaddressed package arrived at O’Bryan-Losee’s house.

Inside was a pink and brown knit cap, sent by a woman who crochets them for people undergoing chemotherapy. The woman, who lost her husband to cancer, had read about O’Bryan-Losee’s plans and wanted her to have a cap in appreciation for her hair sacrifice.

“It really made me think because here I am having fun with this and making a statement, but it’s allowing her to keep her husband’s memory alive,” said O’Bryan- Losee, whose late father and father-in-law had cancer. “If the $1,700 makes a difference, that would be wonderful. But realizing that this little act reached so many people, it really blows my mind.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

At first, O’Bryan-Losee’s reasons for getting her head shaved were more about saying hello to 40 with panache than making a statement about cancer. But things changed in the days leading up to the event.

“I got so much feedback and that’s the part of this that’s precious to me,” she said. “People who I didn’t know had been sick reached out to me. I got an e-mail from a student who lost a daughter to cancer thanking me for doing it.”

“I’m lucky, my hair will grow back,” she continued. “But there are a lot of people who don’t have the option.”

That’s not to say that she didn’t think twice before getting her scalp buzzed. Fortunately, she wasn’t alone; Morrisville UUPer Matthew Barber, her sister, Lynnbeth, and several Morrisville students also had their heads shaved for the good cause.

SHOCK AND ‘AWW’

And she got an extra bang for her bangs; besides her donation to St. Baldrick’s, O’Bryan-Losee’s hair was donated to Locks of Love, an organization that makes donated hair into hairpieces for children with cancer who lose their hair.

She also got plenty of shock value out of her new ’do. O’Bryan-Losee, a UUP Finance Committee member, was at a committee meeting in Albany the night before the hair-shaving event. She left to get her hair chopped and returned to Albany for a Sunday afternoon meeting.

“I only had one day’s growth; it was a 5 o’clock shadow. It felt very strange,” she said, laughing. The committee passed the hat and raised nearly $200 more for the foundation.

While O’Bryan-Losee was glad to donate her time and hair to St. Baldrick’s, chances are she won’t repeat the scene next year. One buzz cut is enough. “I would definitely raise money again for cancer, but I don’t know if I have the guts to shave my head again,” she said.

— Michael Lisi


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