Salon Hawk spearheads breast cancer awareness fundraiser
Salon owner Emily Willis hopes to put in 1,000 pink hair extensions for a $10,000 donation to the cause.
By Joe Preiner (Contact)
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Pink hair will help breast cancer patients at Lawrence Memorial Hospital if Salon Hawk has its way.
The Pink Hair for Hope fundraiser is the brainchild of Emily Willis, the owner of the salon in the Kansas Union. Salon Hawk will offer pink hair extensions to every guest that comes in for a haircut. Each extension costs $10, with every dollar going to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital Breast Center.
This is the second year Willis has led the drive to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Last year the fundraiser earned nearly $4,000. Willis said the $10,000 goal for this year was much loftier, but still attainable. She said putting in 1,000 hair extensions over the course of more than one month was realistic.
Kathy Clausing-Willis, vice president and chief development officer at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said the money Willis raised benefitted a lot of people. She said the money Willis and Salon Hawk donated last year helped pay for wigs, medicine and mammograms. She said the money went to causes that helped breast cancer patients feel more comfortable during their treatments.
“It does really help us,” Clausing-Willis said. “Diagnosing and finding the disease early — it helps women survive it.”
KU graduate Dorothy Devin, now 65, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988. She has been in remission for 20 years and said Willis’ fundraiser was a fun way to battle the disease.
“I mean, think about it,” Devin said. “I’m 65 years old and I’ll have some pink hair. What Emily is doing means a great deal. She’s bringing a new energy to the cause.”
The idea for the fundraiser stemmed from Willis’ personal experience. One of her friends, only 27, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Willis said it was a frightening experience that helped move her to action.
“To experience it, even from the sidelines, is a scary thing,” Willis said. “This is really the least we can do. This is a small salon,” Willis said as she scheduled a customer for a haircut. “But we stay pretty busy.”
To help raise money, Willis will travel to sororities, churches, homes and schools in Lawrence to put in the extensions. She said that practice outside of the salon was normally against the law, but that the state board had made an exception for her because it was a good cause.
Hair extensions are just one way that Willis will help raise money. She will also sell T-shirts with “Save Second Base” printed on them. Willis said the shirts should be available by Tuesday, but that anyone who wanted a shirt could preorder it at the salon. Willis will also sell pink tree ribbons on campus to help raise money and awareness.
The fundraiser will continue for the remainder of September and all of October.
— Edited by Rachel Burchfield
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