Shondi Burnsed, export manager at SNF, Inc. (Chemtall) in Riceboro, donated her hair to “Locks of Love” recently. Burnsed, who took part in a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, said her Relay for Life team established two funds — Save the Hair and Shave the Hair. Because the Shave the Hair fund accrued the most donations, Burnsed had to cut off a majority of her hair. Coworkers spared her the shave, even though that fund won, but she donned a bald wig to see what could have been.

The following ran as a letter to the editor in the April 22 Courier:

Editor,

It’s Relay For Life time again and apparently this year I’ve completely lost my mind.
The Relay for Life team at SNF Inc. (Chemtall) in Riceboro established two “funds” to try to raise money for American Cancer Society — “Save the Hair” and “Shave the Hair.”
If the “Save” fund raised the most money, I would keep my hair. If the “Shave” fund raised the most money, I would shave my head and donate the hair to Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org)
Why did I agree to do this?
I lost my father to lung cancer, my cousin to leukemia, and several aunts to cancer. I am a skin cancer survivor, my aunt is a colon cancer survivor, my mom was a skin cancer survivor, my uncle is a skin cancer survivor; and my stepfather has metastatic squamous cell cancer and had surgery in January and recently finished chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
The reality is I could be diagnosed with cancer again at any time — and so could you. If I were to go through chemotherapy, I would lose my hair. So I figured if I can take a chance at losing my hair to raise money to fight cancer instead, I’m willing to do it.
The “Shave the Hair” team steamrolled ahead in the last 10 minutes of the competition with $7,913.67 versus the “Save it” team’s $7,417.32.
The fundraiser totaled $15,330.99, which in itself is newsworthy, but then SNF matched the money raised by our team. Also, we held numerous other fundraisers, bringing in over $44,000 to be turned in to American Cancer Society at this weekend’s Relay For Life in Liberty County.
We hosted a “Shave It” party at SNF on April 19 shortly after the close of business and sold tickets to the event to raise even more money.
Much to my delight, there was a unanimous decision made to give my hair a reprieve and instead of shaving my head bald, I donated a ponytail-full to Locks of Love.

Shondi Burnsed
Export manager
SNF, Inc. (Chemtall)