A Kāpiti College student will be shaving her hair off for Shave for a Cure next month.
Ella Mullane, 16, has wanted to shave her head for a long time and was originally inspired by her mother, Maria Ferry, who participated in Shave for a Cure in 2014.
But she knew it was the right time when her father, Arnie Mullane, was diagnosed with leukemia last June.
“I’ve known I wanted to do it for a long time, and if ever there was a time to do it, it was now.”
She’s been raising money on the Shave for a Cure website since late January and set a hefty goal of $5000 which she recently hit.
The money goes straight to Leukemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand – and is used for a number of different things including funding new research equipment.
Ella, who is an avid hockey and softball player, plans on shaving at the Kāpiti Softball Club and said while the dates are not yet confirmed, she is aiming for Saturday, March 4.
She wants to make an afternoon out of it and is planning to run an auction for who gets to shave her head, and said this will help to raise even more money.
Ella said she’s planning on live-streaming the shave on the Kāpiti Softball Club’s Facebook page too.
She will be putting her hair into a braid and cutting it off to donate and then shaving the rest.
“It’s going to be a massive change.”
Ella's hair.
At first Ella was being supported mainly by her mother’s Facebook friends, but after Maria posted about it in various Facebook community groups she got about $2000 in new donations.
“It was amazing to see it go from $2000 to $4000 in a day,” Ella said.
The response she got from her family and friends was entirely positive, and she said there was a good mixture of joking and support.
“People have been joking about buying me a beanie when it gets cold.”
Her parents are her biggest supporters and her mother Maria said, “She’s always giving back, always working hard, and always with a positive and mature outlook on life.”
“We’re all very proud of her,” said her father Arnie, who is in remission.
She said while it’s a big step for her, she isn’t scared or worried about shaving her head because it’s something that means a lot.
