Call it a hair-raiser by the Flower girls

Morgan Zalot | The Northeast Times

For Lindsey Holmes and Erin Ondrejka, two seniors at Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, a campaign they organized for students to donate their hair to cancer victims hits close to home.

Both girls have been personally affected by the disease among family members, friends and even at Little Flower, where Sister Mary Craig, a beloved junior-year theology teacher, fought her own battle with cancer.

“My sister’s best friend’s mom had cancer,” Ondrejka, of Rhawnhurst, said, explaining that the woman was a close family friend. “She had real long hair, but then would have to wear bandanas (when she lost her hair). She eventually lost the battle. She’s my inspiration. And my grandpop, who just beat cancer.”

Holmes, who lives in Mayfair, shared a similar story of her 23-year-old cousin succumbing to cancer last September. Although her cousin was a man, Holmes said she could easily see how difficult it was to lose hair from treatment.

“‘What are you doing with your hair?’ is the big question,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine going to the senior prom without any hair.”

The girls, both members of the school’s Community Service Corps, started the campaign among students when they noticed it was trendy for girls at Little Flower to chop off their long locks after the senior prom.

With the help of Brooke Hauer, the school librarian and moderator for the Community Service Corps, the duo organized a two-week drive last month and encouraged Little Flower girls to deliver their shorn hair, ponytailed and packaged in plastic bags, to a collection area in the library.

The day before the drive’s conclusion on May 25, the girls had collected 190 inches of hair from more than 20 students for donation to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program. It surpassed a goal of 165 inches they’d originally set when they stapled a paper cutout of a ponytail on the school bulletin board to track the drive’s progress.

“The whole thing started because we both were going to cut our hair,” Ondrejka said. “It’s kind of the thing to do. Everyone lets their hair grow and then cuts it off after prom.”

Earlier this spring, Ondrejka and Holmes presented their idea to Hauer, who helped them organize it and get the word out to Little Flower students.

They chose Pantene Beautiful Lengths rather than Locks of Love, a well-known program that aids young cancer patients, because Pantene requires only eight inches of non-chemically treated hair for a donation, while Locks of Love requires at least 10, the girls explained. A donation of eight inches seemed more manageable to many of the girls, they added.

Hauer said the school’s Community Service Corps undertakes several projects during the school year and also holds many charitable collections. Ondrejka and Holmes’ hair-donation drive, though, was a first at Little Flower.

“These two girls put the whole thing together,” said Hauer, who has worked at the school for five years. “We decided they would do it after the prom since all the girls want their hair long for the prom.”

Ondrejka donated 13 inches of her hair as part of the program, shortening the length from her lower back to above her shoulders. She was nervous – she’d kept her hair long since she was very young – but she wouldn’t hesitate to donate again.

“I don’t think my mom realized how attached to my hair I was until she saw my tears,” Ondrejka said with a laugh. “I didn’t expect to break down.”

Other girls who donated several inches of hair were nervous as well, she noted, but were comforted by reminders that it would grow back.

Holmes also donated hair to the campaign, surrendering 10 inches. Last year she helped the Locks of Love program.

To encourage students to donate, Ondrejka and Holmes distributed instructions and fact sheets from Pantene. Originally, the two organizers had planned to bring volunteer hairdressers to Little Flower but later decided to allow students to visit their usual salons and bring the packaged hair to school.

Hauer said the hair will be made into wigs for women who suffer hair loss as a result of cancer treatments. According to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths fact sheet, it takes at least six ponytails of at least eight inches to make one wig.

The school does other work for cancer charities, but Ondrejka and Holmes agreed that donating their hair was more personal and unique for the girls at Little Flower.

“There’s no point in cutting it and just throwing it away if you can cut your hair and give it to people who would really appreciate it,” Ondrejka said. “We take hair for granted. You really don’t know how much you appreciate it until it’s gone.”

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