HAIRraising Event Offers Top Salon Haircuts for Charity

On Sunday, April 29 more than 70 salons throughout Massachusetts, RI, CT and NH will participate in Boston Children's Hospital's annual HAIRraising event. 

For the third year in a row, participating salons will provide customers with a stylish haircut for a $40 donation to Children's Hospital.

In Burlington, the on the first floor of the , next to Nordstrom's, will be participating in the fundraiser. There is also a in the mall owned by the same group, but the event this weekend will be only at the D'Spa location.

In the past, the HAIRraising for Children’s Hospital Boston event has raised more than $200,000 and organizers hope to raise another $100,000 this year according to Janet Gilfeather, coordinator Cause Marketing & Sponsorship at Children’s Hospital Trust.

 “This has become a great program,” Gilfeather said. “The first year was getting all the salons on board. It was great to see the big support from big names on Newbury Street and the interest spread out into the suburbs,” Gilfeather said. “They really went above and beyond. Last year, our top earner was Nicholas Michaels in Northborrow raised over $11,000. The average for most salons is around $1,500 to $2,000.”

The HAIRraising program was founded by celebrity hairstylist John Frieda and Gail Federici two years ago after Federici’s daughter required extensive open-heart surgery and received treatment at Children’s Hospital Boston. John Frieda first started the HAIRraising fundraiser in 2010 to benefit the Great Orman Street Hospital in London and has since brought the charity here to the United States.

Haley Goff, marketing director at Dellaria Salons and Spas said all 25 of their studios in the Boston area will participate.

“We have somewhere between 100 to 200 stylists volunteering,” Goff said. “This is a very compassionate field where you develop close relationships with the clients. We were given a list of how many patients live in each town with one of our salons in it. The numbers were amazing.”

Goff said many of the Dellaria Salons are located in malls and in many instances, the malls allow stylists to work in the center courts. “Getting involved was a no-brainer for us,” Goff said. “What better way to contribute to a great charity and give people a great haircut?”

All proceeds go to The Children’s Fund. To learn more, visit www.hairraisng4chb.com.