A Brave Shave

brave girl cuts it all off for charity

It was a family lunch over Christmas in 2012 that our second cousin Cassie mentioned she'd wanted to shave her head. But not just a willy nilly shave because she wanted to look cool, she wanted to play her part in the World's Greatest Shave. A few of us laughed it off but somewhere in there was a kid who was serious about her boast, who truly did want to make a statement, regardless of age, and raise some money for something close to her heart.

Almost a year later and some of us had forgotten about her remark but a few updates amongst the family brought back that declaration and a date was set: October 28th, 2013, in front of all her school. Here was this 10 year old girl, with lovely long hair, ready to cut it all off in front of hundreds of school friends. We've always known she was a bubbly, outgoing and extremely extroverted child but there was something else in all of this. She was maturing. She had purpose.

Let me share you her message, in her own words:

Hi everyone, my name is Cassie and I'm asking you to support me in raising money for the Leukaemia Foundation. I'm going to cut off all my hair and donate it to make a wig for someone going through cancer treatment. I've decided to take part because I really want to make someone happy and raise money to help find a cure to end this awful disease. Even though I love my hair, I feel lucky that my small sacrifice can make such a difference and put a smile on a sick persons face, to make them feel confident and beautiful especially when they are going through such a tough time with their cancer treatment.

How about that from a young girl? She was so excited leading up to the day of the shave and hardly slept the night before. Her excitement and nerves were in overdrive and it showed on the day. The feeling of relief when it was finally over was evident with Cassie just needing to explode with all that pent up energy.

She has done an amazing thing for an amazing cause and incredibly she has raised up over $2000 in donations which is an incredible achievement. Well done Cassie, you've done your family and your school proud. This is something you can look back on with pride and know that you've made a small sacrifice to make a huge difference.