Beatrix, one of my young parishioners at Blackfen, heard of The Little Princess Trust, a charity that makes wigs for children who have suffered hair loss due to cancer treatment. For her 7th birthday, Beatrix wants to have her hair cut off so that she can "give it to the charity that helps sick children who lose their hair" (her words). She has been waiting for a long time for her hair to be long enough to donate.
Beatrix was also influenced by the intrepid trio of young parishioners who raised money for Mary's Meals last year by cycling to Rome (see Via Romea) and wants to raise money for the same cause. So she gets to help two charities in one go.
Mary’s Meals provides daily meals to chronically hungry children in the Third World. They provide the meals in the children's local school. In this way the hungry child is encouraged to attend school and, through education, gain a better future for himself and his community. Mary's Meals feeds over half a million children every school day.
The hair is being cut on 26 March (Beatrix's birthday) so there are three weeks to donate. Initially Beatrix wondered if it might be possible to raise £20. The amount raised so far is £349 with a target of £1000 so do pop over to the Charity Giving page if you have some spare cash.
5 comments:
Thank you for sharing this Fr Tim, I was moved as I'm sure many others will be.
:-)
That is some sacrifice for a wee girl to make. And she has beautiful hair to donate!!!
God bless her! Donation on its way!!
In some ways this beautifully resonates with the girls and young women through the ages, including nuns, for whom the cutting of hair has been a particular, chosen part of complete self-giving- to God.
In terms of the pastoral care of children living with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, as adults we do need to be careful not to send a message that we assume that these children will want to wear a wig: this would be to put wrongful pressure on them in relation to their physical appearance. Wigs should be presented as one option among several (including simply being visibly bald).
But with regards to this young parishioner, yes, 11 out of 10 for loving self-giving.
I'm gladdened to see that Beatrix has reached and surpassed her target! Well done :-)
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