Lacrosse Instructor Invites

People To Play Barber

By Nancy K. Crevier

As a lacrosse player at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, 20-year-old Jaime Vavrek of Newtown and his teammates let their hair grow all year long. But now that he is home and summer is here, it seemed time to shear it off.

“I decided a week ago that I wanted to donate my hair, not just cut it off, and some of my buddies suggested I check out the Locks of Love website,” said Jaime. “I liked what I saw. It’s a fantastic organization, with what they do for children,” he said.

Locks of Love is nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. The hairpieces are provided at no cost, or on a sliding scale.

“A lot of people in my life have been affected by cancer,” said Jaime, “so it feels great to be able to give back, especially to kids who lose all of their hair.” He particularly liked the mission statement of Locks of Love, he said, “to return a sense of self-confidence.”

 “I firmly believe that self-confidence is important,” said Jaime, who hosts a children’s summer lacrosse camp through Newtown Parks and Recreation each summer at Treadwell Park, “and I want to support that.”

He discovered, however, that a year’s growth of his hair did not meet the minimum length requirement for donating to Locks of Love. So he decided to find another way to raise money for Locks of Love, and get a “cool” summer hair cut.

On Saturday, June 4, Jaime will set up a tent on the grounds of the Yale Bowl, 76 Yale Avenue, New Haven, off of Route 34, during the Eli Youth Lacrosse Jamboree, and is inviting the public to stop by and cut a snippet of his hair, for a fee. “I’ll be there all day, from 9 am to 6 pm. All of the money I collect will go to Locks of Love, and people can cut my hair until it’s all gone.”

Jaime will also continue to accept donations to Locks of Love after all of his own locks have ended up on the floor that day. For those who will not be down New Haven way on Saturday, donations of checks made out to Locks of Love can be mailed to Jaime at 9 Stone Fence Lane, Newtown CT 06470.

Signs with arrows pointing the way to his tent will be set up in the public area of the field on Saturday, said Jaime. “I’ll also have big signs for Locks of Love, and my Hot Shots Lacrosse Camp, so that people can find me,” he said.

He hopes to leave the field with nary a hair on his head at the end of the day. “I want to raise as much money as possible,” said Jaime.