CLIFTON — In 2006, lifelong City resident and Montclair State University student Alicia Feghhi donated 10 inches of her hair to Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to children under the age of 18 who are suffering from hair loss.
In 2007, Oprah kicked off the Pantene Beautiful Lengths drive when she cut an 8-inch ponytail from actress Hilary Swank. Inspired, Alicia decided to donate another 9 inches of her hair to the new drive which has a goal to accumulate one million inches of hair for women who have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy to treat cancer.
But donating was not enough. Alicia said she wanted to help the program reach its goal.
"I want to do something bigger," she said.
In April, her ambition was to set up a "Ponytail Drive" that would aid Pantene Beautiful Lengths in reaching its end goal. However, she said the process of bringing everything together was more arduous than she had realized. First, she had to find sponsors for the event and fortunately, the MSU-based philanthropic organization H.E.A.R.T. (Helping Each Other and Redefining Tomorrow) stepped in to offer a small, yet very welcomed financial backing.
"H.E.A.R.T. is pleased to support women suffering from breast cancer," H.E.A.R.T. president Amanda Kucsera told Alicia.
Finding sponsorship was not the only problem the graduate student faced. Another big hurdle was finding a salon not only interested in helping the cause, but willing to do it for nothing more than publicity.
"It was hard. I called a lot of [uninterested] salons and then I called Salonsí (in Nutley) and they said, ‘sure.’ They had done a lot of these events and were happy to do another."
With that, Alicia set a date and time for Oct. 13, noon to 4 p.m. Unfortunately, with everything pushed to the following semester, she would only have a month to spread the word for the first-time drive to the student body of New Jersey’s second biggest university.
"I put up flyers and signs in every building. Everyday I would go to all the buildings to make sure they were still posted, since people would take them or rip them down. There were only a few volunteers assisting me [sporadically] along the way, so I had to do most of it on my own." She said the biggest "reach-out was sending a mass e-mail to every student on campus. Most people who participated in the event heard about it through e-mail."
That Monday in October, Alicia said she felt a little anxiety.
"Ideally, I wanted a lot of people, but I was really unsure," she said, adding she had done her part, even going so far as to prepare snacks, goodie bags, raffles and a grand prize for the biggest donation.
Over the course of the four hours, 13 women donated a total of 145 inches of hair.
"I interviewed every [donor…] Lots of them knew someone who had suffered from breast cancer or died from it. Just to see the smiles on their faces (and the shock) when they heard the snips of their hair was awe-inspiring. I was touched. I’d say this is the biggest accomplishment of my life…so far."
Regarding the turnout, Alicia said she wishes there had been more donors, but added she was "overly pleased considering how it came together.
"I have gotten a lot of e-mails since having the event. I knew there would have been a bigger turnout had there been more time."
Fortunately for Alicia, she may get her chance, in fact, a few more chances. With the relative success of this first "Ponytail Drive," MSU and H.E.A.R.T. are interested in making this an annual event - potentially biannual.
"For the next Ponytail Drive, it will be bigger and better. I will have more hands helping me, along with more funds and a bigger room."
