Samantha Fretz was seven years old the first time she donated her hair.
At school, she learned about how some people cut and donate their hair to organizations that create wigs for people who’ve lost hair due to cancer treatments and decided to grow her hair out for two years before cutting it off.
Now, the 18-year-old from Virgil has donated her hair four times total, growing it out and cutting it every three years — and her efforts this year have inspired other people in Niagara-on-the-Lake to help her out.
“I just like helping people,” she told The Lake Report.
Fretz learned about Angel Hair for Kids, a Canadian foundation that donates wigs to children with cancer, alopecia and other medical issues that cause hair loss, through her hairdresser.
The organization was close enough to home, running out of Mississauga and covers all of Canada.
“We really liked the message that they had,” said her mom, Amanda Fretz.
In tandem with her hair donation this year, Fretz set up an online fundraiser to raise money in support of Angel Hair for Kids.
One wig takes 10 to 12 ponytails and $2,500 to create, so Fretz wanted to do her part to help out even more.
The story inspired many people across NOTL to pitch in.
Bonnie Bagnulo, the executive director of NOTL Palliative Care, along with helping hands from the Niagara North Family Health Team, presented Fretz with a donation of $355 on Thursday.
“She’s such a remarkable young woman, I wanted to see her in person and tell her how proud we all are,” Bagnulo said.
Thanks to this donation, and the donations accumulated on her fundraiser Haircuts for Happiness, Fretz is only $425 short of her $2,500 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Fretz and her mom expressed thanks to everyone who showed support and donated to the fundraiser.
The deadline for donations has been extended to Aug. 15 — those interested in supporting Fretz’ goal can do so at canadahelps.org/en/pages/haircuts-for-happiness.
