FEBRUARY 24 to 25 is the national weekend for this year’s CANSA Shavathon which takes place at participating malls across KZN. Corporates, schools and other organisations get to host their fundraisers from February 26 to March 29.

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The theme for the CANSA Shavathon 2024 is ‘Be Colourfully Kind’. Natasha Brown, KZN Sustainability coordinator for CANSA, said the full list of malls where supporters can shave, spray or purchase gear will be available at the beginning of February at www.shavathon.org.za.

“We encourage the people of Durban to come out in their numbers and either spray their hair in funky colours or to go bald all in the name of raising funds for cancer patients,” she said.

Red, pink, purple, blue, green, silver, yellow, orange, black and white temporary hairspray are available with some cool stencils, as well. If you choose not to spray your hair, you can opt for the stencils.

“In the spirit of getting the youth involved and raising awareness among them, we have also introduced a competition for all KZN schools this year. The school that raises the most funds will win our special floating trophy. We are excited to see which school will be the first to be engraved on our CANSA Shavathon trophy,” added Brown.

Those who are not keen on spraying or shaving can still make a donation at events or donate their ponytail (with a minimum length of 25cm), which will be used to make wigs for patients who experience hair loss during chemotherapy. Hair donation certificates will be awarded at the events for hair donations of 25cm or longer.

“Cancer patients often undergo chemotherapy, and hair loss can occur when chemotherapy drugs travel throughout the body to kill cancer cells. Some of the drugs also damage hair follicles, causing the hair to fall out. CANSA receives human hair donations (ponytails) in order to make sufficient wigs for cancer survivors requesting them. These wigs are distributed, as requested, to CANSA Care Centres all over the country and given to cancer survivors who need them most,” said Brown.

For more information and to host a Shavathon event at your place of work or school or your organisation, etc, call Natasha Brown on 081 477 8947 or Franciska Brecht on 063 339 0403.

You can also visit www.shavathon.org.za for further details.

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