A Sarnia philanthropist will be sporting bright blue hair and a purple beard this summer to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton.
Mike Hurry, the former executive director of the non-profit, will cap-off the fundraiser when he completely shaves both his head and his beard next month.
Hurry is hoping the initiative brings in $20,000 for the organization.
"If I raise $7,500 by July 15, I'm going to dye my hair blue. If I get to $15,000 by August 1, I'm going to dye my beard purple. And then on August 15, I'm going to shave my hair and my beard off," said Hurry. "I said to some people 'this is just a way to get a free haircut.' So now as we're just opening up so that people can go and get their hair cut, I guess it seems appropriate that I get mine cut too."
Hurry said the last time he was clean shaven was 2011.
"The first time we went to Everest in Nepal, when I came off of the mountain, we went to Kathmandu and there was a guy there that did a straight razor shaving and a haircut, so I decided I'd have it done. So I came back with short hair and no facial hair at all. That's the last time."
Hurry said he's hoping his hair will grow back.
"I'm not really looking forward to [cutting] it and my wife is definitely not looking forward to it. She's used to the long hair and she likes it, so she's thinking I should make it a $50,000 initiative and that way she wouldn't have to see me bald."
Hurry said the person who makes the largest donation will get the first shave with the razor during a live event at Refined Fool on London Road. Hurry said if the highest contributor can't make the event August 15, there's a 14-year-old Little Brother that would love to get the first shave.
"People have said that 'it's got to be down to the wood if you want my support,' so I guess it is going to be."
Hurry said Refined Fool and Burger Rebellion have agreed to donate 15 per cent of their sales on the day of the haircut.
Hurry, who retired back in April, had originally planned to do a charity bike ride, but those plans had to be altered due to provincial COVID restrictions. He said the past 16 months have been a real struggle for the organization.
"I know in 2020, we cancelled about $212,000 worth of face-to-face fundraising events because of the pandemic, and the agency does not receive any ongoing government support for the mentoring programs that they put on."
For more information and to donate, click here.
(Photo by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sarnia-Lambton)
