LIKE most children at Christmas, Sophia Bennett has the biggest smile on her face but not from what’s hiding under the tree.
The five-year-old from Augustine Heights is overjoyed knowing that a child who has lost their hair to a medical condition could receive her hair as a Christmas present.
Sophia made her first trip to the hairdresser on December 17 to collect her blonde locks for, Variety, a children’s charity that will turn her hair into a wig for someone who has lost their hair.
Sophia said she was inspired to donate her hair after a visit to the hospital with her dad, Catholic Foundation donor relations manager Mark Bennett.
“Because when my dad and me went into a hospital, a little girl didn’t have hair and I said to my dad, ‘Why doesn’t she have hair’?” Sophia said.
“And then my dad said because she had cancer. I felt bad for them.”
Mr Bennett found out about Hair with Heart, a national hair donation campaign run by Variety that creates wigs for people who have lost their hair due to a medical condition.
He shared the information with his daughter who agreed to make her first haircut a Christmas gift for another child.
“When my dad told me about (the hair donation campaign) I said I wanted to do that,” Sophia said. “I think it is good because then I can give other people hair.”
Wigs can cost families up to $6000 and last between one and two years.
Sophia has already raised more than $3000 for Variety, and hopes to reach $4000 by the time she sends her hair away.
Despite feeling nervous about her first haircut, she said she felt good about donating her hair to help another child.
Mum Caitlyn Bennett was proud of her daughter’s decision to do a selfless act at Christmas time.
“I just love that she’s thinking about someone else and gets to experience that feeling of being compassionate towards someone else,” Mrs Bennett said.
“She’s really excited too because she hates that I make her braid her hair for school every day because it’s so long.”
