TCU students organized a hair donation drive to raise awareness for childhood cancer and collect hair to be made into wigs on Thursday, Sept. 30.

Each participant donated at least eight inches of hair. The hair was then sent to the nonprofit Children With Hair Loss, an organization that makes wigs and hair replacements for cancer patients.

Yasmin Misra, a sophomore nursing major and one of the hair drive coordinators, said that this event would be a good way to raise awareness while also making a difference.

“It’s one thing to create an informational flyer or an event that just spreads awareness. It’s another thing to take action and bring that upon yourself to do something associated with that awareness,” Misra said.

Students partnered with Vanguard Hair Studio to make the drive happen. 

“While it’d be super fun if one of us were to cut the hair, obviously most kids don’t want another student cutting their hair that has minimal experience,” Misra said.

Araceli Aguilar, the manager at Vanguard Hair Studio, has been a stylist for 15 years. She said that throughout her career she has seen the way hair can really empower her clients.

“I really like to help. If this is going to help anybody, one person or 10 people or 100 people, that’s what is going to make a huge difference,” Aguilar said. “So I’m happy to help and be involved with these kinds of events.”

While students were excited and nervous to be participating in this event, giving back was at the heart of it all.

“I think that everybody that’s going into this is really excited that they’re able to help contribute,” Misra said. “I think even if people have nerves, it’s definitely offset by excitement.”

Several students said they are hopeful that this will become a new TCU tradition.