VIDEO: A Little More Than Off the Top

After fundraising for a couple of months, 12-year-old Shelby Fenton hit her target date and goal.

Late Friday (March 15) afternoon, Shelby settled into Mindy Mallon's chair, Manager of Great Clips in Cochrane, to get a little more than just the ends of her hair cut off. After hearing a radio ad for 'Shave Your Lid For a Kid', Shelby decided to step up in a big way.

Originally having a goal of $750 to shave her head for Kids Cancer Care in support of cancer research and Camp Kindle, Shelby upped her target to $2000 and is happy to say she met and surpassed that amount. Raising $2570 in the end, the St. Tim's grade seven student shares she was a little nervous about reaching her goal. "I wasn't sure at first, and I am really, really surprised."

Although Shelby hasn't lost anyone close to her to cancer, when she heard the commercial on the radio she knew she wanted to help. "Because all these kids have cancer, I wanted to raise money so they could go to camp or feel better."

Her mom, Valentina Fenton says both her and her husband were nervous about her decision to shave off her hair but also incredibly proud. "As a parent, you are wanting to be protective of them but also let them grow and make their own decisions especially when it comes to a great cause. Cody and I talked about it privately and thought about her long hair, but in the end, we thought it is such a great cause, how could we not support her?!"

Valentina says they knew their decision to support Shelby was the right one when they saw her smiling face. "Overall we just want our kids to be happy, and she seems really happy."

Focusing on the positive attributes of a shaved lid, Shelby says there are many advantages like picking out cool headbands and not having to worry about tangles for a little while. "When I shower it will dry really fast."

Shelby is an incredible example of how one person, no matter the age, can make a big difference in the lives of others. "I want to say thank you to everyone that helped me because it is really special for them to fundraise because they worked hard for their money."

When this journey began, of course, Valentina and Cody were nervous, but in the end, everything came through. "That is the true Cochrane fashion, and everyone just jumps on board. I think a lot of the donors see it as they are planting seeds for the future, so they support this young child whether it is selling cookies or shaving their head as investing in our future philanthropists and supporters of our community."

The idea was Shelby's alone and Mallon was thrilled to do the head shave as she herself is now in her 17^th year of remission.

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Who Needs Hair?! Cochrane Girl Takes a Stand