Stoneham Salon to Participate in HAIRraising Event to Benefit Children's Hospital Boston

On Sunday, April 29 more than 70 salons—including one from Stoneham—throughout Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire will participate in Children's Hospital Boston's annual HAIRraising event. 

For the third year in a row, participating salons will provide customers with a stylish haircut for a $40 donation to Children's Hospital. Coincidentally, this is also the third consecutive year that Stoneham-based Juliana's Salon, 90 Elm St., has supported the cause, according to owner Juliana Capillo.

"We do a Cut-A-Thon so we take a donation and you receive a wash and a cut," Capillo said. "We also have a bake sale, face painting, balloons, popcorn machine and we run raffles the whole month of May. Local businesses have donated the raffle items and we’ll take the lump sum and we donate it to children."

Capillo, who opened her salon in 2000, said the fundraiser is just another way for her to be "proud of my industry and participate in such a wonderful event. Being a mother of three children, having clients that are children and families who have utilized the hospital so many times it means a lot to me and my staff to participate."

"I think one of the best things about the fundraiser is the camaraderie among the stylists and the other people who donate their time, seeing everyone working together and seeing the clients happy to be participating," Capillo said. "It’s the good feeling everybody got from doing something to support Children’s Hospital that was the best thing. It’s very rewarding."

In the past, the HAIRraising for Children’s Hospital Boston event has raised more than $200,000 and organizers hope to raise another $100,000 this year according to Janet Gilfeather, coordinator of Cause Marketing & Sponsorship at Children’s Hospital Trust.

"This has become a great program," Gilfeather said. "The first year was getting all the salons on board. It was great to see the big support from big names on Newbury Street and the interest spread out into the suburbs," Gilfeather said. "They really went above and beyond. Last year, our top earner was Nicholas Michaels in Northborrow raised over $11,000. The average for most salons is around $1,500 to $2,000."

The HAIRraising program was founded by celebrity hairstylist John Frieda and Gail Federici two years ago after Federici’s daughter required extensive open-heart surgery and received treatment at Children’s Hospital Boston. Frieda started the HAIRraising fundraiser in 2010 to benefit the Great Orman Street Hospital in London and has since brought the charity to the United States.

Haley Goff, marketing director at Dellaria Salons and Spas, said all 25 of their studios in the Boston area will participate.

"We have somewhere between 100 to 200 stylists volunteering," Goff said. "This is a very compassionate field where you develop close relationships with the clients. We were given a list of how many patients live in each town with one of our salons in it. The numbers were amazing."

Goff said many of the Dellaria Salons are located in malls and in many instances, the malls allow stylists to work in the center courts. "Getting involved was a no-brainer for us," Goff said. "What better way to contribute to a great charity and give people a great haircut?"

All proceeds go to The Children’s Fund. For more information, visit the fundraiser website.