Laura Blackwell donates 14K with “baldraiser” for Lily’s Hope

On November 12, Lily’s Hope 5k took place at West Winds golf course. The race is a way to raise awareness for childhood cancer and to show Lily Weaver and her family the community’s love and support.

At the end of the race everyone gathered around the stage to watch Lily Weaver shave Laura Blackwell’s purple hair. Blackwell works at the DNA Lab hair salon. She made a deal with Lily that if her salon raised over $1,000 dollars for Lily and her family, she would let Weaver do the honors of shaving her head on stage.  Blackwell called this her “baldraiser” and announced that she had raised  $13,252.

Blackwell set up the donation site through Facebook, “Baldraiser for Lily’s Hope” and raised the $1,000 goal in 58 minutes. She had $5,000 in 24 hours.  Although the baldraiser is complete, anyone can donate through Facebook.

The crowd cheered as she allowed Lily to shave all of her hair in the 32-degree cold. The DJ decided to make it an even more enjoyable moment by playing “Let it go” from Frozen and “We are the champions” by Queen. Everyone was singing and clapping along. Diego Castro,  a barber,  guided the nervous Lily during the process and followed up by touching up the initial haircut.

Weaver removed her knit hat, and the two showed off their shared baldness.

On her donation site, Blackwell wrote, “Hair is such a big thing for women, but it doesn’t define you. . .what you do in this life does!”

Blackwell was Lily’s family babysitter when Weaver was first diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma and has continued to stay involved with the family, even vacationing with them.  When Weaver got her diagnosis this summer and began her first round of chemotherapy, Blackwell shaved Lily’s head and helped Weaver to apply make up.

All together Lily’s 5k showed her that she is not alone in her fight against cancer.  The event was organized by the community, and many LHS students and staff participated as runners or volunteers.