If you needed a haircut, wanted it to go to a great cause, and happened to be at Parkland Mall this weekend, the annual Brayden Ottenbreit Close Cuts for Cancer was there to oblige.
Leone Ottenbreit of Close Cuts confirmed that, as of writing, the Sunday tally wasn’t in just yet -- but Saturday’s numbers certainly were. Donations on the first day of the weekend alone totalled an amazing $17 587. The number will be quite a bit higher once Sunday’s numbers are tallied. These funds go toward cancer research.
Everybody had their own reasons for donating. A loved one, a friend, family.
Robert Mus is one of them.
“I have family and friends with the disease. I’ve been doing it for years now. It’s a good cause.”
“You know, I think every year we have different people taking part because different people get diagnosed,” said Greg Ottenbreit, co-organizer and MLA for Yorkton.
“This next group coming up has one of those unique -- but not so unique -- stories, unfortunately.”
There were plenty of them.
“Dennis works with Scott Fitzimmons. Scott’s a really good friend of mine. I decided to shave my hair this year to support Scott as well. They work at The Rock 98.5 in Yorkton, and Scott’s two little boys here are going to get a little bit of their hair clipped off,” Ottenbreit continued.
“Graham’s his brother in law, so they’re all going to get trimmed together. I guess there’s five of us here this year for Scott!
“Scott, like I say, is a father to these two, and a good friend to many. He got diagnosed about two weeks ago.
“I was actually working in Regina, and he sent me a text and asked me if I had time to talk. So, I picked up my phone and we were chatting, and he told me he was on his way in to Regina in an ambulance because his blood counts were that low.
“Within a couple days, he was diagnosed with ALL, and the central line on another day. He was on chemotherapy and treatment within two or three days, so he’s going right through the middle of his first fairly strong course of chemotherapy.
“He’s got a really good attitude, and a lot of people praying and supporting him including this group here today. We all have people we’re here supporting. We ask that you keep them all in your thoughts and your prayers.”
With that, the buzzcuts commenced.
If you would like to donate to Close Cuts, please contact (306) 621-5295. You can also contact them through Facebook: http://www.fb.com/cuts4cancer.
