TEMECULA, Calif. — (Sept. 3, 2015) – During the entire month of October, Spa Pechanga inside Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. offers free haircuts and styles to anyone wanting a new ‘do and willing to donate eight inches or more of hair. The month-long hair donation campaign is hosted in conjunction with the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program to collect as many ponytails as possible. This October, the program is expanded to include unlimited hair donations and styles to anyone based on appointment availability. Reservations at Spa Pechanga are on a first come, first served basis. To make a reservation or for more information, contact Spa Pechanga at (877) 711-2946 or visit www.Pechanga.com/Spa. 

The campaign coincides with October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The side effects of breast cancer treatment, especially hair loss, can be devastating to a woman’s psyche. The haircutting crusade encourages men or women whose hair is eight or more inches, not colored or bleached and not more than five-percent gray to give their hair to help a woman who has lost hers due to cancer treatment. All collected ponytails from Spa Pechanga will be given to the HairUWear® organization. HairUWear turns all usable hair donations into real-hair wigs and distributes them for free to female cancer patients through the national network of American Cancer Society® wig banks. Donors may also drop off ponytails at the Spa Pechanga front desk.

“We are so excited to be able to do our part to help this very important cause,” says Gina Layland, Spa Pechanga manager. “There are so many women across the country who can be helped by the kindness of a stranger donating their locks. We hope we can help at least a few ladies going through cancer treatment to feel as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside.”

This is the third year Spa Pechanga has held the October hair donation campaign and to date, 52 ponytails have been collected. It takes five to six ponytails to make one real-hair wig. For more than a decade, Pechanga Resort & Casino has been a major supporter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation in its region. In 2014, the resort/casino’s team members made up the largest Komen IE team with 402 participants. Pechanga employee fundraising for the organization generated $48,431.70 last year alone. Over the last three years, resort/casino employees have donated $125,070 to the fight against breast cancer and toward raising awareness.
The Centers for Disease Control show breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women and affects one in eight. American Cancer Society statistics show that one in three women will develop some form of cancer in her lifetime. The organization estimates that 790,740 new cases of cancer afflicted women in 2012. Hair loss, one of the most common side effects of cancer treatment, can be especially traumatic for a woman fighting cancer. Pechanga has long upheld a tradition of providing critical resources for those in need.