Community Corner

Salon's Efforts Raises Hairs, Money for Charities

During February, Hair Plus Salon will raise money for the American Heart Association and Hillsborough's Fire Companies.

Hair Plus Salon is raising money for local and national charities in a hair-raising way.

That’s because, during February, the salon is selling red-colored hair extensions as a fundraiser for the American Heart Association, as part of the association’s American Heart Month activities.  The funds raised from the extension sales will also benefit Hillsborough’s Fire companies, salon owner Suzi Mirra said.

“This is something where families could come in and do it,” Mirra said.  “It’s something where you can show your support in a fun way and make a statement.”

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The extensions, which are made of human hair, cost only $12 and all of the proceeds from the extension sales go toward the fundraiser, Mirra said.  Since the extensions are made of real hair, they can be curled, braided or otherwise styled to match the natural hair.  And, since it doesn’t require bleaching and re-dying, the process is not as damaging and allows wearers to choose the perfect extension hue.

“It’s a safe way to be a bit of a daredevil,” Mirra said.  “It’s also being part of a team or part of a cause. “

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Hair Plus’ fundraiser began about two years ago, using pink extensions as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.   An extension supplier mentioned selling the colored extensions for charities and the salon decided to run the fundraiser, Mirra said.

The initial fundraiser benefitted both the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and local cancer support charity Dance for the Cure.

This year, the salon’s October awareness drive benefited Dance for the Cure and Susan G. Komen, and local charity Chain of Hope.

Chain of Hope began as a way to support Sunnymead Elementary School teacher Lisa Nawrotski after a breast cancer diagnosis and later branched out into helping other local families during times of need.  As it turned out, Mirra had a connection with the charity—she’d done Nawrotski’s hair for her wedding, Mirra said.

But the connection with American Heart Association came from Mirra’s sister, who works for the association and suggested doing a fundraiser for them.

“We wanted a fundraiser that would benefit the community in any way,” Mirra said.  “When we heard about selling extensions, we said we would donate to the national charity as well as the local.”

The salon stylists will also come to Hillsborough High School on Thursday and Friday, to apply the extensions to students during lunch periods.  The proceeds from that sale will benefit both the American Heart Association and Project Graduation, Mirra said.

The fundraiser draws women of all ages to the salon for the colored hair,

“Moms and their kids come, and we even had a three-year-old get the pink extensions,” Mirra said.  “It’s fun to see the kids get excited over the hair.”

The salon bonds the extensions to the existing hair using keratin, the protein in human hair.  The extensions are then trimmed to the desired length and can be left in until it falls out is taken out.  To take out an extension, the wearer simply soaks the hair in an alcohol-based product to dissolve the keratin, Mirra said.

“It’s just a great way to get a little bit of color without your mother killing you,” She said.


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