Cut for the Cure supports campaign for MRI machine
Your next hair appointment will not only give you a new look, it might also improve the health of an entire city.
On Oct. 25, 13 salons from across the city will join the Cut for the Cure, a fundraising initiative spearheaded by Eli Saikaley of Silver Scissors Salon on Bank Street in support of two Ottawa sisters — Rebecca Hollingsworth and Mary Ellen Hughson — who were both diagnosed with cancer in the same week. The sisters are now running their Tree of Hope campaign to raise the final $250,000 for a $4-million, state-of-the-art 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner for The Ottawa Hospital’s Breast Health Centre. It will be the only one in the country dedicated to breast health.
Saikaley rallied 13 Ottawa hair salons with the goal of raising $10,000 for the life-saving technology.
“There are no set rules on what each salon is supposed to give,” he said. “I did set a $500 minimum to join the list and become a participant … everybody is doing what they can to be creative to send money towards this function.”
Saikaley said when he heard the news about Hollingsworth’s diagnosis, and her efforts to bring the machine to Ottawa, he had to do something.
“When I read the story ... it hit home. This disease had a name and the name was Rebecca, and Rebecca was my client … so I thought it was the least I could do.”