The Mane Event
On July 29, 2026, I made my fifth hair donation benefitting children with hair loss.
It all started in 2012. I was a pharmacy technician working in retail when my mother came into the store to tell me she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. We were both in shock, but the prognosis was good, and with treatment she would be okay (she is).
Being a longtime cannabis user at that stage of my life, and knowing about the research on potential anti-cancer properties of some cannabis compounds, I had a mission to get my mom on cannabis.
I quickly bought a dry herb vaporizer, thinking that she would consider using it since it didn’t burn anything and was the healthiest way of inhaling cannabis. She said no.
Obviously, I wasn’t going to let this new toy go to waste, so I used it myself. But I wanted to do something to help her or others in the same position.
I originally planned on letting my hair grow all throughout pharmacy school so I could grow dreads by the time I graduated. I like to stand out from the crowd, and I thought dreads would do that, and paint me as the bridge between the professional and natural healing worlds. Shortly after the news from my mom, I decided growing to donate would be a better cause.
In 2017, during my final year of school, someone hosted a hair donation event at school for Wigs for Kids. It felt like the universe was speaking to me: “It’s time.” After growing my hair for 4 years, wearing many different styles, catching love (and hate) from my female classmates about how nice my hair was, it was finally time to part ways with it.
Since then, I’ve grown it out and donated four more times while hosting charity events in the cannabis industry. Most recently, we held The Mane Event at The Dispensary in Westminster, Maryland. We received giveaways, donations, and hair from local brands and patients.
People always ask, “Are you growing it out again?” I haven’t decided yet, but I must admit that I enjoy rocking the short hair for now. I suppose I will one day, but until then I’ll wait for the universe to tell me “It’s time.”