LaGRANGE – Fabulous hair and just as fabulous fundraising was the running theme this weekend at West Georgia Tech’s Callaway Auditorium as Hair for a Cause’s fifth annual fashion and hair show took to the runway to raise money for community members battling potentially terminal disease.

The event kicked off with an All Black Party on Saturday night, but the biggest turnout was for the much-anticipated annual hair and fashion show that has drawn increasing crowds to the event over the years.

“There were over 200 people at the All Black Party that was yesterday, and I think here (at the hair show) we’ve got 700 guests,” said LaQuita Harmon, who started the show five years ago.

The event put on display the talents of local hairdressers, makeup artists, barbers and models, all with the shared goal of helping community members fighting illnesses.

“(I’m excited that) we were able to bring the community together for a good cause, and a mix of that and being able to help be a blessing to our recipients,” said Veneka Cameron, who helped organize this year’s show. “Our recipients are our main reason for us to be here.”

The recipients of the funds raised were all diagnosed with potentially terminal illnesses, and while the funds will be a huge help in covering the cost of medical care, all three recipients expressed gratitude for the outpouring of community love and support that came with the show.

“The support is tremendous,’ said Detron Davenport, one of the show’s beneficiaries. “I mean, I thank God for the money, but the support just makes me feel so blessed to have a lot of love and family and friends around me to help me, coasting through this trying time. I never would have thought I’d catch anything so young that I’d come down with some disease.”

Davenport is currently battling cancer, but he hasn’t let the disease get him down, and he believes that God will take care of him as he goes in for treatments surrounded by the prayers of the community. Those prayers were one of the biggest requests of the community from the beneficiaries of the fundraiser.

“I am so grateful for them thinking of me and considering me as a recipient because I’m from Atlanta initially, and my wife and I moved here because we thought I was cancer free, and then it came back,” said George Hudson, another recipient of the funds raised by the event.  “… As far as the community helping, I think it is going to be a great thing, and I hope it continues.”

The support of the community was especially inspiring for the event’s youngest recipient, Angel Tucker, who had only recently been able to get out of the hospital.

“I feel like it (the disease) is a lot for me, and it (the show) really helps a lot,” said Tucker. “… I want to thank them (the organizers). I never imagined someone doing something like this for me.”

 

Reach Alicia B. Hill at alicia.hill@lagrangenews.com or at 706-884-7311, Ext. 2154.