TEMECULA, Calif. — (Nov. 12, 2015) – During the entire month of October, men and women were invited to Spa Pechanga for free haircuts and styles if they were willing to cut and donate eight or more inches of hair. Spa stylists collected 58 ponytails this year, more than doubling the previous two campaign years’ collections. The month-long hair donation campaign was hosted in conjunction with the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program to collect as many ponytails as possible to be made into wigs for women underg oing breast cancer treatment. To date, the Spa Pechanga’s 8-inches or more initiative has collected 110 ponytails.
“We are thrilled by our guests’ generosity,” 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.”
The donated tresses get packaged and sent to 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.
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.
The Centers for Disease Control show breast cancer is the most common cancer among American women affecting 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.