Project manager auctions hair to earn monetary donations for Lymphoma victim
DALLAS, November 17, 2009 – Corgan employees, clients, contractors and consultants donated close to $5,000 last week from an event organized by one of Corgan’s project managers to raise money for a friend who was recently diagnosed with Lymphoma.
Karen Farmer, a project manager at Corgan known for thinking outside the box, devised a way to help raise money for a childhood friend to assist with her medical costs after being diagnosed with cancer in September of 2009. Farmer collected $25 donations for the opportunity to cut off a portion of her hair.
After deciding to sacrifice her own locks in support of her friend Whitney Ness, Farmer presented the idea to solicit donations to the management at Corgan. President David Lind agreed to the plan and liked Farmer’s idea of hosting “the hair cutting ceremony” for all to witness at the Friday Forum, a weekly meeting for employees to exhibit current projects to the entire firm to discuss new ideas and critiques while feeding off each other’s ideas and experience.
“When I found out Whitney had cancer, I started thinking about how I could raise money for her, Then I thought, who would actually pay money to cut my hair?” Farmer said. Just as she envisioned, the network of support quickly grew as donations from Corgan employees, colleagues and clients started rolling in for the chance to get their hands on this architect’s head.
When asked why she was doing this for Ness, Farmer responded, “Whitney can’t be bald by herself. I couldn’t let her do this alone. Her hair will grow back and so will mine.” When Ness learned about Farmer’s idea she remarked “[Karen is] as crazy as a box of rocks,” but that she admired her willingness to replicate her own short hairdo, especially with the cold weather coming up. “If this were reversed, I’m not sure I could do it,” Ness said, as she expressed great appreciation.
Farmer built up the event by having a friend design screen printed T-shirts emblazoned with Team Whitney for supporters and used Facebook and e-mail to distribute updates. Wanting to rally supporters for the “mane attraction,” Farmer invited Corgan employees, clients, consultants and contractors to donate in order to participate in her public hair cut, and maybe take out some frustration on Farmer. “No one would love to get a hold of an architect’s head more than a contractor – or engineer,” she joked.
At the grand finale of the fundraiser on Nov. 6, Farmer sported 27 ponytails that donors lopped off one by one. The room was marked by wide-eyed onlookers as they watched the first ponytail drop to the floor. The final chunk of hair was cut by Ness and this grand gesture was met with applause and smiles and a big hug between two childhood friends. Lind stepped in with electric hair clippers to do the final honors – he finished up Farmer’s “new do” and shaved off the rest of her hair to a close-cropped buzz cut.
“I admire Karen for her gesture and all the work she put into this,” Lind said. “At Corgan, we always support our family of employees in their positive endeavors, and we are proud to support Whitney in this challenging time.”
Farmer said she was delighted with her new haircut but wouldn’t be “leaving the house without makeup and earrings” for a while.
The proceeds from the fundraiser will go directly to subsidize Ness’ medical costs, and Farmer said she will continue to build support for Team Whitney through Facebook.
“I can’t even believe it. This is huge! I had to [cut my hair]. I didn’t have a choice, but she does! I can’t believe she’s done all this for me,” Ness said.