LYNN — Two women friends who have both lost their mothers to cancer will shave their heads on Sunday to benefit kids with cancer, who don’t have a choice in losing their hair.
Valerie Deland, 62, and Tanya Crowell, 43, are raising funds for One Mission Buzz Off for Kids with Cancer and will shave their heads during the Buzz Off at Gillette Stadium event. So far, they’ve raised $1,125 and $2,400 respectively.
According to the organization’s website, proceeds from The Buzz Off fund vital programs that reduce stress, restore joy and provide kids and their families with the support they need to get through treatment. One Mission is a pediatric cancer charity.
Deland, of Lynn, and Crowell, who grew up in Lynn and lives in Saugus, met at church, and work together at Girls Inc. of Lynn — Deland volunteers at the organization and Crowell works as a program specialist.
Deland, who has retired after working 42 years as a clerk in the Lynn Public Schools, said her mother died at 88 years old from lung cancer in 2001.
She said her mother went into remission twice — she was diagnosed five years before she died. Her mother had part of her lung removed, chemotherapy and radiation — she started smoking at age 13 and ultimately lost her battle because of cigarettes.
Now when she sees young kids smoking, it angers her.
Deland said when she was about to start treatment for a third time, her mother told her to cut her hair as short as she could and then buzz it off.
She decided to participate in the charity event after learning of Crowell’s plan to shave her head. Although she said she can’t do it for her mother, at least she can do it for the kids.
“Tanya mentioned that she was doing it and I thought these poor kids don’t have a choice in losing their hair,” Deland said. “Hopefully by doing this and raising money, as hard as the treatment can be, we can make it a little nicer for them.”
She said Crowell is setting a great example for the girls at Girls Inc. by showing how you can help other people.
Crowell had been thinking about cutting her hair off and to stop coloring it — she’s gray underneath — and wanted it to grow back natural. A friend suggested the Buzz Off.
Crowell, whose mother died from pancreatic cancer six years ago, liked the premise of the Buzz Off, with funds going not just to research, but ways to help kids during their cancer treatment.
Usually with pancreatic cancer, Crowell said survival after diagnosis is only a couple of months, but her mother opted to have an invasive whipple procedure, which removes the head of the pancreas, the first part of the small intestine, the gallbladder and the bile duct.
The procedure extended her mother’s life for three years, but eventually the chemotherapy stopped working and the cancer was spreading everywhere.
Crowell said one of her friends, a 43-year-old single mother, is going through chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer, while taking care of her son. They met because both of their sons have special needs.
Crowell’s friend had to have both of her breasts removed, along with her ovaries and uterus and underwent reconstructive surgery. But she said her friend didn’t have any time to be vain and didn’t have a choice with losing her hair either.
Crowell said shaving her hair off doesn’t bother her, although it’s her own vanity, the first thing people notice about her and what she gets compliments on, as she has big hair.
She hopes the girls at Girls Inc. will get something out of her experience.
“The girls get to see this is hair — it’ll grow back, but it’s a big part of me,” Crowell said.
Deland said the motivation is to help people — everybody knows someone who has had cancer, and she’s lost numerous people to the disease.
“Losing my mom was very difficult because she was my best friend,” Deland said. “Anything we can do to help someone else is a blessing.”
New England Patriots player Rob Gronkowski had his hair buzzed off alongside hundreds of people at last year’s Buzz off at Gillette Stadium event.
According to the One Mission Buzz Off website, 5,464 heads have been shaved since 2010. More than $6.7 million has been raised and more than 8,000 patients and families have been given support.