A YOUNG girl from Buncrana has launched a fund-raising campaign that will see her donate her long hair to a local cancer organisation while also raising money for the Irish Heart Foundation.
Six-year-old Kara Black decided to raise donate her hair due to the Rapunzel Foundation due to her school friend, Mia. Mia is a recovering cancer patient and told Kara about her losing her hair during chemotherapy and waiting a long time for it to grow back.
During a bedtime reading of Kara’s favourite book, Rapunzel, Kara asked her mum to cut her off to give to a little girl with no hair. At first, Kara’s mum said no, but she persisted and a few days later Kara’s fundraising campaign was up and running.
Kara has already raised almost double her target amount for the campaign, raising over €281 from a target of €150 through JustGiving, the world’s social platform for giving: https://www.justgiving.com/Michelle-Black5/
Michelle Black, Kara’s very proud mum, explains why they are fund-raising for the Irish Heart Foundation:
“The reason we choose the Irish heart foundation is my nana and Kara’s great nana, Agnes Quinn, lost her life on the operating table due to a heart problem. Kara adored her great nana, as we all did. We hope that the funds we raise for the Irish Heart Foundation will be used to increase awareness of heart problems and goes toward equipment and help for families suffering a Loss to heart problems.”
Kara plans to grow her hair until January, where a special event will take place when she will cut her hair. Her hair will then be donated to the Rapunzel Foundation, where people commit to growing their hair 14 inches or longer with the view to their hair being sent to help make much needed wigs to improve the lives of those living with the hair loss.
Marco Kuntze, Head of International Charities at JustGiving, explains why the funds raised are so important to charities like the Irish Heart Foundation:
“These funds make real change happen, such as enabling the Irish Heart Foundation to raise awareness of heart diseases risks and help families of those suffering from heart conditions. Even a small donation can help save someone’s life, so it’s fantastic to see the amount that Kara has raised already.”
The Irish Heart Foundation is the national charity fighting heart disease and stroke through research and prevention and relies on charitable donations for more than 90 percent of its income.
JustGiving users can ask their friends to sponsor them on their own personalised fundraising page, with funds raised going towards a registered charity of their choice. To date JustGiving have helped 22 million people raise over €2.5 billion for 13,000 incredible causes.
To donate to Kara’s campaign or to keep up with the running total, go to the JustGiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/Michelle-Black5/
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