Editor:

On June 2 at Tsawwassen Skate Park, friends of Nolan came together to show their support and raise funds for a great cause.

Over 100 participants came to lose their locks for leukemia with buzz cuts and pony tail cuts. Proceeds from donations, food and raffle ticket sales raised over $22,000 to support the B.C. Children's Hospital, where 13-year-old Nolan is receiving treatment for leukemia.

Participants ranged from young children to grandpas, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, schoolmates and teammates, friends and neighbours, and one young girl that donated her birthday party charity collection of $200 towards Nolan's Locks. Many came to donate and then stayed to connect as a community.

In just two short weeks, many volunteers came forward to help organize this event. Carly Swift designed a flyer/pledge form and Dustin Elford covered the printing costs. Sandy Borthwick helped with registration and donations, while Nancy Morison handed out prizes to participants, which ranged from skateboard decks and watches from Alice at Lucky Surf and Skate, to hats and T-shirts from Sean at Billabong, Skate BC magazines, athletic shirts from South Delta Secondary, McDonald's full meal deals, and movie certificates and an iTunes card from South Park class parent Kristina MacLellan.

Marilyn Elford and Maria Chaperon handled the raffle prize table, while Geordie Flanagan worked the crowd for raffle sales.

Prizes included a longboard and skimboard from Lucky, merchandise from Billabong and Kayotic, bike helmets from Delta Bike Co. and some beautiful pillow sets from Judy Smith.

Many others came forward with gift baskets and other contributions.

When local firefighters heard about the event, they came down with their large barbecue and Rob Almrud stayed to help out with the food (provided by Thrifty Foods). Chef Brent Fahl from Sharkey's grilled hot dogs to perfection, and also donated a Canucks Jersey and dinner certificate as prizes.

Niamh Fahl helped organize hairdressers from Salon 56 (Jema Holmes, Janae Whitman, Jessica Proulx and Carol Haklander) and Myne 2 Hair Spa (Robyn and owner Jessica). The hairstylists, who worked tirelessly with no breaks to make sure everyone received a hair cut to be proud of, were presented with deluxe skincare sets provided by local doctor Martin Ray.

Donuts and cookies from Tim Hortons helped keep the energy up in the lineup, as did the great music with sound system setup provided by South Park's Karen Simpson and her son, who also came to get the ultimate buzz cut.

Photographers Colleen Burke and Pam Giberson documented the event and will create a memory CD for Nolan, who was unable to come due to his weak immune system.

Nancy Stoiber from the B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation shared some insights on the impact cancer is having on our communities, the improvement in treatment rates for childhood cancers and the promising hope for a cure within this century.

While hair was being buzzed, the crowd was treated to amazing skateboard demos by Sean Hayes, Shadd Trep and Hippie Mike from Protest Skateboards. These experts also set-up an impromptu skate competition for the kids.

A T-shirt for Nolan signed by all skaters and a Canucks hat signed by Trevor Linden (compliments of Nolan's teacher, Ms. Cadez) was presented to Nolan's dad Chad who attended the event along with many other family members.

Nolan, who enjoys golf, also received a golf T-shirt from SDSS and hopes to be able to wear it soon on the golf course when he is feeling better.

Overall, the turnout and response was just incredible! We would like to thank all the generous, caring people in our community that provided their ideas, energy, time, prizes, donations and their hair to make this event an overwhelming success!

Cheryl Kristiansen Kasie Dobbs