My Out Of Control Hair

Together, Let’s Help Kids With Cancer!

Quick Summary

Inspired by an uncle currently battling pancreatic cancer, I’m going to grow out my hair so that I can donate it to a hometown charity that makes wigs for kids who have lost their hair battling cancer. I want to raise $1000 per inch I grow. At a 12 inch/30.5cm minimum donation, that’s $12,000. Each wig they make costs $1500-$3000 and requires 20-30 hair donations. Please help me share this project through your social networks or feel free to donate! Tax deductible for Americans on donations over $5.

Update 16-Feb-2012: Unfortunately Uncle Barry passed away tonight. But his spirit lives on via his friends and family, and his kindness and positivity will live on via the children touched by this project

Let’s Help Kids With Cancer!

Bald At The Start Of The Happy Nomad Tour

Bald At The Start Of The Happy Nomad Tour

As you may remember, I started The Happy Nomad Tour bald. I thought it would be easier to manage, logical since it was supposed to be warm everywhere (I froze in Guatemala and Costa Rica), and I liked the look.

Well, I think it was in Leon, Mexico where I realized that shaving my head was more of a bother than anything. It’s just like a beard and after two or three days the hair is back. I don’t even shave my face that much anymore, so I decided to grow out my hair.

The Crazy Hair That Will Someday Hug A Child's Scalp

The Crazy Hair That Will Someday Hug A Child’s Scalp

My mom has asked me repeatedly over the past 15 years to grow out my hair. Now she is getting her wish, though she may regret it!

I took this picture and sent it home to my family showing how out of control my hair has become. My brother responded with an awesome idea. He said I should grow out my hair and donate it to one of the organizations that takes donated human hair and turns it into wigs for children battling cancer.

Done!

My Dear Uncle Barry

My Dear Uncle Barry

Plus, at this very moment an uncle is battling pancreatic cancer and I lost an aunt to cancer in 2010. Though they aren’t children, I can’t imagine how much harder it would be for kids (and their parents) to go through the same thing.

Inspired by my friend Maria, who on her own accord wanted to cycle from Canada to Mexico and saw an opportunity to combine her journey with the raising money to build a school in Guatemala, I want to raise money for charity as I grow out my hair.

I contacted the most well-known hair donation organization and they completely blew me off. But no problem. I did one better! I found an organization from my hometown of Cleveland doing the same thing and I’m happy to support them!

My goal is to raise $1000 for each inch of hair I grow. The grand total, I hope, will be $12,000 since 12 inches/30.50cm is the minimum amount to donate. Each wig they make costs $1500-$3000 and requires 20-30 hair donations. $12,000 could pay for 4 to 8 wigs.

According to Wigs For Kids, donations of $5 or more are tax deductible for Americans.

Donate Now

It’s a tall order and there are tons of other organizations worthy of your time and money. If you don’t donate any money personally, I’d still really appreciate it if you promoted this endeavor.

I’ll provide periodic updates, both of my crazy hair and of how much has been raised.

Any help you can offer in terms of publicizing this project would go a long way – whether via social networks, the media, etc. If you have any other ideas on how to promote this, please contact me!

Let’s help kids with cancer focus on getting better instead of their physical appearance!

29 replies
  1. Askelena
    Askelena says:

    Hey Adam, te amo, and if you really want to help your family and kids with cancer, please get the message out: Watch the movie Simply Raw and Raw of Life or Forks over knives.  Most cancer can not thrive in an alkaline body.  Most Americans and those eating the SAD (Standard American Diet) are very ACID, cancer and other diseases love it.  Help them eliminate dead meat, and heal with a Whole Food plant based diet.   Toxic food equals toxic bodies, and the hidden additives in processed food is not good for anyone.  Be healthy, stay happy.  Elena FincaAmanecer.com

    Reply
  2. Jessica Sadoway
    Jessica Sadoway says:

    Go go go! I grew my hair out for my wedding and donated 10 inches afterwards. After a bit of accountability research, I was also less than impressed by “the most well-known charity” in the hair donation arena, so I ended up donating to Pantene Beautiful Lengths.

    Looking forward to some silly hair pictures!

    Reply
  3. Cat
    Cat says:

    What an awesome idea to donate your hair in honor of those you know with cancer and to raise money. I hope their battle against cancer is victorious. Ditto Jessica! I’ve donated my hair twice and ended up going with Pantene the second time around.  I too am looking forward to the hair photos. Good luck!

    Reply
  4. Maria Mihok
    Maria Mihok says:

    Awesome proposition! I’m jobless but in for $20 as soon as your hair is six inches. Don’t tell me it is already!?!You look like a chia pet i once had. And i mean that in the nicest way 😉

    Reply
  5. Happiness Plunge
    Happiness Plunge says:

    Seniorita inspiration! 🙂 Thanks! No, I haven’t measured it but I’m
    thinking it’s 3-4 inches now. Still a ways to go. Ya, my hair is a mess but doing my own thing means not having to please anyone but myself. And I must
    say, it’s always entertaining to see myself in the mirror now 🙂

    Thanks again for the inspiration!

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] awesome uncle, the inspiration for my Crazy Hair Fundraiser, has unfortunately passed away […]

  2. […] I mentioned in the original article, it costs about $1500-$3000 to create a wig, so we’re well on our way to ensuring at least […]

  3. […] And, of course, I’m still excited about my hair fundraiser. Check out the details here. […]

  4. […] the kids loved my hair. The eight-year-old boy mentioned above loved it the most. On the first day he noticed my hair […]

  5. […] hello, he recognized me after a few seconds. I don’t blame him. I keep on looking younger and my crazy hair makes me look different. And then we did what I always wanted to do, but never had the ability – […]

  6. […] Though Cleveland will always be home, and my connection to Cleveland lives on via my family and Crazy Hair Fundraiser, I don’t think I’d ever live […]

  7. […] told her that she seems to visit me at hair extremes, first when I was bald and now with my crazy hair. But the meeting was wonderful […]

  8. […] mean, who knows. For now, get to know Adam below, and like him here, follow him here, and join him here. (By the by, Adam very casually mentioned that we could link to his “Crazy Hair […]

  9. […] in Honduras, to selling bread in the street in Peru to help a kindergarten raise funds, to my own Crazy Hair Fundraiser for Wigs For […]

  10. […] recently took the picture below after waking up one morning. I found my crazy hair funny and I knew my parents would laugh at it. I didn’t recognize myself in the mirror and it […]

  11. […] of couchsurfing with a girl whose mom is a nurse at a hospital? Well, upon telling her about The Crazy Hair Fundraiser she invites you to her hospital to brighten up the kids in the cancer […]

  12. […] I had never seen the Philippine eagle before and it kind of looks like an eagle with crazy hair! So, in a way, we are crazy hair brothers and it’s an unofficial mascot for The Crazy Hair Fundraiser. […]

  13. […] week Dave Stern from The Balding Handbook contacted me to ask if he could donate $1 to The Crazy Hair Fundraiser fom every paperback book […]

  14. […] I turn 30 years old. I’m definitely not interested in gifts, though a contribution to my Crazy Hair Fundraiser would be […]

  15. […] By the time I came home, I had already raised about $2000 for Wigs For Kids via the Crazy Hair Fundraiser, yet I’d never met anyone from Wigs For Kids face-to-face. It had all been by […]

  16. […] though my immediate family no longer lives there. I had great things planned for my Crazy Hair Fundraiser, etc. But Latin America is a special place that really grew on […]

  17. […] mean, who knows. For now, get to know Adam below, and like him here, follow him here, and join him here. (By the by, Adam very casually mentioned that we could link to his “Crazy Hair […]

  18. […] donating click here and click on the green “Donate” button. For more information click here or if you have any questions about it I know Adam would be more than happy to answer them. Which is […]

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