With a smile on her face, Linnea Perco watched eight inches of her hair vanish.
The St. Alexander School student was at Hairquarters in St. Catharines last week continuing the unselfish trend of stepping up and cutting their hair for wigs. Those wigs will then be given to those battling cancer – an issue that hits close to home for the five-year-old.
In the span of a couple months, Perco had gone to funerals for the mothers’ of friends who lost their battle with breast cancer.
Witnessing the devastation of the deadly disease first-hand, she wanted to make a difference.
“One day she decided she wanted to cut her hair short,” Linnea's mother, Maria Bellantino Perco, said. “We discussed that if she let it grow long enough, she'd be able to donate to Wigs for Kids. She got really excited and quickly started counting down the days until she could donate.”
Currently there are about 10,000 children living with cancer in Canada today. Each day, the number continues to rise, making the Wigs for Kids donations even more precious.
Wigs for Kids, a cooperative effort in North America, who share a goal to help children not worry about what they look like during the middle of a health crisis. With the average wig costing upwards of $2,000, each donation remains a vital lifeline in providing some positive energy in such tough times.
“She understands the concept of cancer and she just wanted to help out somehow,” Bellantino Perco said. “This was the simple solution. Cut off something that grows back while helping boost the self-esteem of a child going through something no parent ever wants to see happen. As a parent, I couldn't be prouder of what she did today.”
Perco says she hopes her classmates notice the haircut and decide to do the same. The trend has already begun at AK Wigg and she's hoping St. Alexander follows in her footsteps.
For the time being, she will once again begin counting down the days until her next donation can take place, as the hair must be at least eight inches. For more information on donating to Wigs for Kids, visit www.wigsforkids.org.
