Hair we go for the Echuca-Moama Shave

Asha, a Year 11 student at St Joseph’s College, talked about the inspiration behind the event.

“I was watching friends and their families do treatment, and thought how could I help them,” she said.

“I thought why not organise a big event, to raise money, and help support local people and local families living with cancer.”

Asha called in good mates Emily Kerr, Mali Jones and Netti McCoy, who all work at the iconic Echuca venue.

“Asha convinced me to be part of it,” Netti said.

The first person to volunteer to lose their hair was another good friend, Year 9 Moama Anglican Grammar student Carla Crossley.

“Once we had a few people on board, the word spread pretty quickly and other people volunteered to lose their locks for a great cause,” Asha said.

One of the youngest will be Cyrus Stafrace, 7, who is in Year 1 at St Mary’s Primary School.

“I had been growing my hair so I could put dreadlocks in them,” he said.

“But once I heard about this through my sister Amelia, I wanted to donate my hair for a good cause.

“My mum (Holly) has bought me a special beanie to wear after my head gets shaved.”

Paddy Casey is a familiar face, who has lent his support to the Echuca-Moama Shave.

Mr Casey raised more than $15,000 across three years as part of the Great Cycle Challenge, which raises funds to fight cancer.

“It is an amazing thing for a Year 11 student to organise an event like this,” Paddy said.

“I said to her, ‘how could I help?’ and she said, ‘shave the mo’.

“I said, ‘I’ll lose the mo and the hair’.

“It is a personal thing for me; my brother Graham passed away with cancer, as did my cousin H (Helen).”

High St Barber proprietor Rick Wilcock has also put his hand up to be involved.

“It is a great initiative, I think we’ve all been touched by cancer in some way,” he said.

“It is about awareness, spreading the message and raising money for a good cause.”

Asha said the goal for the event was to raise $10,000.

“We’re above $7000 already, which has been just great,” she said.

“If anyone else wants to volunteer and be a part of the event, they can.

“We’ve got a number of social channels — check out @echucamoama.shave on Instagram, echucamoama.shave on Tik Tok and Echuca Moama Shave on Facebook.

“We’ve also got the GoFundMe page, which is titled ‘help support local families living with cancer’.”

Asha said on the day of the shave there would be a variety of fun activities in addition to the main event.

“We’ll be running raffles, mini games and there is an auction with items that have been donated by local businesses,” she said.

“I’d like to thank all the local businesses who have thrown their support behind this event, the American Hotel for hosting it, and my mum, Jacqui (Wegener), who has given me 110 per cent support.”

All money raised will go towards families in the Echuca-Moama region who are directly affected by cancer.

Money raised will help with the burden of travel and living away from home costs, as people with cancer are required to leave Echuca-Moama to seek medical treatment in Melbourne.