Beards off for Cash

Both hair and cash were flying on Thursday (Nov 26), as the Hastings City Assist guys had their beards shaved off in public.

It ended seven months of hairy growth by Chris Bartlett, BJ Pui, James Haronga and Mike Godinet – all in aid of raising funds for the Child Cancer Foundation.

Barbers Sharon Woon, from Ian Yarletts Barber Shop, and Max Lambert, from Maxim Barbers, donated their time to the cause – wielding the razors in front of the Thursday Night Market crowd in the city centre.

The cause was extra special to Sharon, who was accompanied by her son Bradley, a cancer survivor.

The 16-year-old joined in on the action, taking a blade to the face of one of the City Assist beards.

And, as it turns out, shaving in public is contagious. Before too long a staff member from Cotton On, Marcus White, had donated $50 and had his head shaved, 4-year-old Peter Inwood had gone under the blade too, with the permission of mum Rachael Greville, and City Assist boss Merv Dudley had succumbed to the razor, having his head shaved.

Rachael who works in the city and so sees the City Assist staff pretty much daily, took a turn at clipping one of the men – saying the cause was great as were the City Assist staff. “We just love them; they make our city so safe”.

Giving cash away also proved contagious. Mobile retailer Twister Chips was the first trader to put $50 in a donation bucket and challenged other traders to do the same. It did not take long for others to match the gift, and a steady flow of coins and notes were donated to the cause by the public.

The four-man team had been raising money for the cause over the months they had been growing their facial hair, and last night’s donations took the total to just a tick under $4000.

Child Cancer Foundation Hawke’s Bay manager Vicky Rope said the financial assistance was “fantastic”.

She told the crowd that the foundation received no funds from Government agencies, and so relied on the public for donations.

The help the foundation provided made all the difference to families coping with the trauma of cancer, said Sharon. Bradley’s illness, diagnosed three years ago, meant she and her husband spent more than a year travelling backwards and forwards to Starship Hospital in Auckland, as well as looking after their three other children. “We would have really struggled without the foundation.

We had to take a year off work and it helped out with all sorts of things, like petrol vouchers to make the trips. They were wonderful.”

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