Christina Abriola ’19
EE Contributor
Infinite Love for Kids Fighting Cancer, a locally known group fighting against childhood cancer, is run by one of our own teachers, Mr. McCaffrey. “[We do it] for the kids that do not have the chance anymore or lost their battle to cancer. You just need to live your life to the fullest everyday and remember things could be alot worse.” said Jaime Tolk, a Junior who cut off 10 inches of her hair and donated it for the cause.
Forty-one students and 6 teachers have teamed up with local hair salons and the Infinite Love organization to either cut off their hair, portions of their hair, or shave their head completely to help make wigs. This was Jaime’s third time cutting and donating her hair. She said being on the track team really inspired her to do this. Once she heard on the announcements that she could donate through the school, she knew that was exactly what she wanted to do. This is important to her because her track coach plays a huge role in the organization and he lost his daughter to childhood cancer.
Tolk said she went into the hair salon feeling excited but a bit nervous. She had been waiting for this day since May of last year. With all the fundraising they did since then and finally getting to cut her hair, she says it couldn’t have been better timing with September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Ten inches of hair later, Jaime said she was overjoyed once she saw all the hair off and how much she contributed to a child in need. “It made me feel good because I know it will make a little kid smile when they see this.” She said if she had the chance to, she would love to see or even meet the patient who received a wig from her hair. Jaime hopes that by next year more of her peers will want to join her and the 41 other students who participated. “With better announcements and making it more aware that this is going on in our school, maybe we can get that 41 students up to 82.”
Jess Salgado, a senior at Trumbull High, also cut 11 inches of her hair for Infinite Love. “The whole experience was heart warming because I was able to raise money and donate my hair for a good cause which felt pretty amazing, and I have no regrets about it.” Salgado said she chose this organization because of her track coach, Mr. McCaffrey, also because of the organization’s great reputation and the amazing things that they are making possible for kids fighting for their lives. Salgado says in order to get involved in this great experience, you should get in touch with Mr. McCaffrey, or go check out the website and learn more on there. She also suggested to buy products they created throughout the month of September for cancer awareness, and once the event rolls around next year, you can donate your hair or get involved in other ways. “It’ll take a long time for my hair to grow back, but once it does I would definitely cut my hair again for Infinite Love.”
“It feels really good to be working with other people to be making such a big difference in one kid’s life.” Tolk said, with no doubt, that once her hair grows back she would definitely cut it and donate again.
Tolk believes this organization does so much for our own town and community. It creates awareness and brings everyone together to get something positive done for the ones who deserve it the most. Tolk and Salgado could only hope that since they have shared their stories, students throughout Trumbull High will get wind of it and cut their hair as well, or even raise money for the organization in the simplest ways. Students are donating money to the teachers in the school who are shaving their heads. The money raised is going directly to Infinite Love for Kids With Cancer. You can even go onto the organization’s website and make a contribution there (https://www.infiniteloveforkidsfightingcancer.org/). Ten inches of hair can make a child battling cancer’s life, as Tolk told me, “my hair will grow back so it does not matter, someone deserves it more than I do.”