Locks of Love to Dublin Dollars

2nd from left, Mary Grassley, Chair of Dublin Dollars
Stylist Amy Smith
Kendahl Adjololo

Kendahl Adjorlolo has donated hair to Locks of Love three times. "I look upon my hair as a crop," she commented. So it was natural that she thought of a way to combine her passion for Locks of Love with her passion for helping band kids from Shorecrest get to Ireland for the St. Patrick's Day parades.

Locks of Love is an organization that takes donated hair, which must be at least ten inches long, and weaves it into wigs for disadvantaged, young patients who have lost their hair for any medical reason.

Dublin Dollars is the volunteer group raising funds to help families pay for the trip to Ireland in March for the Shorecrest Band and Choir.

Kendahl and Dublin Dollars chair Mary Grassley recruited a dozen women with long hair. Each of them found people to sponsor them. Donations from the sponsors went to Dublin Dollars. The hair went to Locks of Love.

On January 27, hair donors gathered at the James Alan Salon and Spa, at 192nd and Aurora. James Alan, owned by Matthew Fairfax, donated the hair cuts.

Heather Pence Sevier went on the band trip when she was at Shorecrest. Now married and living in Cheney, Washington, she had her hair cut and sent it to the committee, along with her donations.

Mary explained that Dublin Dollars has raised $40,000 to date, in three funds. Fund A includes the hair cuts and direct sales, such as the See's Candy event. 90% of the profit goes to the individual student.

Fund B is from work events, like the car washes. Students have to work for money and get a percentage of money from the event, based on the number of hours they worked.

Fund C is the general fund, from direct donations. The money raised is distributed equally among all the students who worked at least twelve hours in the fund raisers.

The trip costs $3,500 per student and 137 are going. The families have to make up the balance.

The school participates in the Irish events every four years, so every band/choir student gets one opportunity to go.

"Some of the kids have been raising money for over a year," said Kendahl. "They mow lawns in the summer, babysit, and do odd jobs. One girl bought a set of paints and went to every fair she could find all summer. She put out a donation jar and did face painting. She raised the entire amount in one summer."

No one can remember when Shorecrest started going to Ireland. A lot of people guessed 1998, but others asserted that the trips started in the 1970s.