Penn high school student-led club organizing hair donation event

MISHAWAKA, Ind. –A student-led club at a Michiana high school is making difference, one hair cut at a time.

“Short Hair Because We Care Club” is run by Penn High School teens and is organizing a hair donation event on March 26 at 11 a.m. at the Penn High School Cafeteria. It aims to help kids who are dealing with hair loss.

Sophomore Ella Smoker, is one of the organizers and president of the student-led club that’s putting the event altogether. She started “Short Hair Because We Care” at Penn High last year.

“It’s just a club we started at Penn to plan a hair donation event,” Smoker said.

Smoker has been cutting and donating her hair for years. She said the club was started with a few classmates in 2021, but she started something similar when she attended Grissom Middle School.

Smoker said the club revolves around the hair donating event, where hair professionals from Salon Nouveau will cut hair for adults and students.

To participate, you must donate at least eight inches of hair, and they are taking color-treated and dyed hair. Hair collected will be donated to a Michigan-based organization called “Children with Hair Loss,” which provides hair replacements like wigs to children and young adults facing medical-related hair loss at no cost to them.

“It’s really been cool to try and get people and give students, really the opportunity just to be able to give back to the community,” Smoker said.

If you’re younger than 18 years old you must have an adult with you to donate.

The hair donation event is taking place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Penn High School Cafeteria. That’s located at the back of the school, and you can enter through Door F.