For the eighth year in a row, East Maitland Scout leader Tracy Nevins will participate in the Leaukemia Foundation’s World’s Greatest Shave, but for the barber operating the clippers this haircut will mean a whole lot.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Craig Jones, who owns the barbershop in Thornton shopping centre, lifted up his shirt to reveal a long-pink ribbon of scar tissue.
“Liver cancer, or so they thought,” he said. “In the end it wasn’t [cancer], but I knew what it was like to be there for a while.”
Mrs Nevins, who joined Scouts to support her son more than a decade ago, said she had no personal connection with cancer but felt compelled to do her part to find a cure.
“I just thought one day, ‘why not?’” she said. “It’s only hair and it’s a great cause.
“My mum died of cancer, but it wasn’t blood cancer, I just do this because it helps a lot of people.”
Mrs Nevins and Mr Jones decided to host a World’s Greatest Shave after realising they each had a connection to the disease.
“Tracy and I got to talking while I was cutting her son’s hair and we said ‘Let’s do it, it’ll be awesome’,” he said.
Mrs Nevins said she uses each head shave to start a conversation with the Scout troupe about the Luekemia Foundation and cancer.
“The main thing with Scouts, they don’t care what you look like, everyone’s welcome,” she said.
“I come in one week with hair, the next week I come in looking like Craig and they don’t care.
“The parents all chip in and show their support so it’s really good.”
Mrs Nevins said she raises about $350 each year and has had people stop their cars in the street to donate money – a sign of the community’s generosity.
The headshave will be on Friday, March 11, at 4pm at Craig’s Barbershop.
Donations at the barbershop or online at www.bit.ly/1SWMABZ
