Five students donated their hair to benefit children with hair loss

By Blake Ashley Frino-Gerl

TEMPLETON — The season of giving is upon us, and a few students at Templeton High School have spared their time and hair, to give to children with hair loss. Benefitting children with hair loss became an important cause to support for students in Matt MacFarlane’s High School Community Leadership class, especially with it being October Cancer Awareness month. 

Sophomore Jed Dow helped organize the October event to not only offer the opportunity for students to donate their hair for wigs to nonprofit Children With Hair Loss but to also raise awareness of the positive impact it has for children who have a variety of circumstances that causes their hair loss. 

While this event has occurred in past years at both the high school and Templeton Middle School, it hasn’t been in person for a few years. With five students donating their hair this year, Jed hopes that it will be bigger in the next two years that he is in high school. He would like to have local schools compete for the most donated hair. 

“If we can make it into a competition in our county, we can get lots and lots of people donating,” he says.

The event was quite the community effort as the scheduled haircutters were unable to participate, but fortunately five students and two teachers from Designs School of Cosmetology in Paso Robles donated their time and effort to provide the haircuts. 

Senior Class President, Brynn Bajema, has donated her hair every other year since sixth grade and was happy to be a part of donating this year. 

Growing her hair out every two years and then cutting at least eight inches isn’t “life changing for me, but I understand that for a child, something so small could be huge,” Brynn says. 

She feels that “a cure would be wonderful, but there are a lot of things that will help them going through what they are going through now.” 

Hair doesn’t make us who we are, but it is prominent to our outer appearance. Donating what is in excess for some is so thoughtful and beneficial to those who don’t have it. 

“Hair, for me, it will grow back,” Brynn reasons. “Even as young people, we have something to give,” Brynn adds. 

The students found a way to outpour good into the world and let go of inhibitions that oftentimes holds people back because for some change in appearance can be difficult. 

Sophomore Brodie Rossel grew his hair out during the pandemic and thought it was a good reason to then donate it. 

“I honestly didn’t feel much different,” he says. “Hair or no hair, I am still just me. I did it for the best reason and I will be doing it again.” 

There is no wavering in positive change, and the students apart of this giving event exemplify that.