Tam's Hair with Heart challenge

I'm taking the chop to change lives

I'm chopping my hair!

I have made the decision to cut and donate my hair to be made into a wig for someone who has lost their hair due to a medical condition.

I'll be doing the cut at work on Thursday July 30 and my colleagues will be chopping off 36cms - possibly more if they can get away with it!

Wigs cost families up to $6,000, lasting 1-2 years, meaning families can spend tens of thousands of dollars on the purchase of wigs throughout a child’s youth. By making a donation to Variety - the Children's Charity, you can help provide a wig or other vital equipment to a child in need. Thank you for helping kids in need.

My Updates

Before & After - Thank you for supporting me

Sunday 30th Aug

It’s been a month since I chopped my hair and I don’t know if I’ve gotten braver or just given up caring that I have the short cut I didn’t want, but here it is: my before and after shot. I think the thing that bothers me the most is if I’d known my hairdresser was going to cut it so short I would have donated more hair to Variety – I figure that’s a good annoyance to have ;)

Thank you to all the people who donated so far. I was so overwhelmed by the support. This has been such a cool experience and a great lesson in realizing a shit hair cut doesn’t mean anything when you compare it to a whole heap of kids who don’t have any hair at all. Funny thing is, looking at my before and after shot I actually prefer the after. That first one doesn’t even feel like me anymore. Maybe all I needed was a month to put a few important things into perspective.

Today's the Day!

Thursday 30th Jul
I thought I would be a lot more nervous about chopping my locks off. It may have something to do with the fact I have had a pretty huge week and juggling a massive deadline in the office - not time to think about my hair (a blessing in disguise!)
Was hoping to post a last day of long hair pic yesterday but I was having a terrible hair day. After showing disappointment a very wise man said to me - 'maybe you were supposed to have the shitty hair to make letting the hair go easier. If you had a good hair day you may have not wanted to get rid of it.'
Hmmm.. I think there's a take away in that for all of us.

The countdown is on!

Monday 27th Jul
Donating my hair has been on my bucket list for a very long time. It's been on there but with a very light pencil, so light you could barely read it. I first got serious about donating it about 8 months ago. It was jealousy that pushed me over the edge (haha). My sister is pregnant and during this time her hair grows like crazy. I got jealous and wanted to grow my hair as long as hers. When it got longer than it ever had I realised what a pain in the butt it is to maintain and thought - it's now or never!
I love having long hair, have had my whole life. When your hair gets to a certain length it's hard to control how it looks every day. The longer it got the more flat and tired it looked. It got to the point when it only looked decent on the first half of the day I washed it, then every other day it cried out for the day I was going to wash it again.
Then one day during quarantine I discovered a natural curl method on YouTube. All you need is the waist tie from your dressing gown and you wake up with volume for days and waves surfers would only dream of ;)
So today I celebrated my last curly hair day before the big cut. I'm sharing it with you as a thank you for your amazing donation and a cheers to hair for sticking with me for so long - I hope it's going to make some beautiful kid very happy :)

Thanks for all the support

$136

Jess Riley

$104.40

Caroline

Woot! Well done you brave and generous girl. Can’t wait to see the bob.

$104.40

Stephen Norris

Good on you Tam. My wife went through cancer treatment last year. She's not a child of course, but she is my 'baby'

$104.40

Spectrum Camera House

$104.40

Pen

Fantastic! Variety do amazing things and have for years. Well done.

$100

Kg

Proud of ya kiddo - amazing effort and dedication ... you are simply wonderful ..cheers for sharing the planet ..and our office heehee hugs to ya

$52.20

Justyna Kowalski

Well done Tam ... you're always thinking of others.. so very proud of you ... you're amazing ❤

$52.20

Kathy Warlum

So brave Tam, such a great cause!

$52.20

Natalie

You are a cut above the rest

$52.20

Margaret

Good work Tam hope you get lots of donations

$52.20

Seumus And Debrah Heenan

Fantastic cause Tam! Short hair suits you too :)

$52.20

Anonymous

$52.20

Angela Johnston

What an amazing achievement, you’re an inspiration 🤗

$52.20

Christopher Morgan

$52.20

Ladgrove

You go girl👍

$52.20

Tam Kowalski

eeekkk! #ShortHairGirlsHaveMoreFun

$50

Pam Griffin

$50

Matthew Mortimer

$50

Rogers

Snip snip and Bob's your aunty ...

$50

Leigh Jones

Well Done Tam

$38

Dennis Lei San Pedro

$31.32

Helen Dorahy

$31.32

Mary Samoluk

A wonderful gift for a special recipient. Well done.

$31.32

Alyce Statis

You are an incredible person! 💕

$31.32

Cody Mccarthy

Well done Tam!

$31.32

Gill Doddridge

$31.32

Tracy O'

Yes Tam! What a beautiful gift you are giving. So proud of you! Now let's get you that $1,000 target!

$31.32

Nic And Lachy Robinson

Well done! So brave and a great cause. I love you with short hair 😀👍

$20.88

Jayne Osborne

$20.88

Justyna Olga Kowalski

Here's to $1000.00 ... so so proud of you ❤

$20.88

Tonielle Nash

Hey Tam, you are just amazing...Well done Tam xx

$20.88

Katherine Adrian

$20.88

Peter Yates

Inspirational Tam. I'm ready to pull the trigger on a 'substantial' donation if you'll let me take the clippers to your locks. You know where to find me

$20

Bianca R

Can't wait to see the final hair style!

$20

Simone Le Dilly

Awesome effort Tam!

$10.44

Mary Ann Biggs

Well done 👏👏👏