by Jessica Walters
It is generally true that teenage girls care a lot about their hair. It is also true that they care a lot about other people and the world. When Anchorage Teen Genevieve Gisler, a Central Middle School 8 th grader, wanted to help people, she twisted her two passions together.
Gisler created a community service project that provided for Mary Conrad Center residents to get their hair done for free at the Academy of Hair Design. The Mary Conrad Center is a long-term care facility for elderly.
"Well, If I'm going to do this, I might as well do something I'm more interested in," said Gisler. "Just being a girl and my age, I'm really big on hair and all that stuff. I've been to the Mary Conrad Center for caroling during Christmas seasons, and I was thinking maybe I'd do something special for them since they don't really get out much."
Gisler says it took a lot of time and dedication to set up her project. She says she began by making sure the people involved would actually go for her idea. In the end, her hard work paid off. Two women from the Mary Conrad Center came to get their hair done, and 8 more free hair-cut certificates for were given to the center.
"They don't really get out much, and so they don't really feel like they are in the community anymore," Gisler said.
Gisler says receiving the free haircuts made the residents feel more appreciated. Gisler also says it got The Academy of Hair Design more recognition.
In addition to the hair cuts, Gisler also raised money to buy a real hair wig for a child whose hair fell out due to chemotherapy.
"I got people to pledge and I was going to take that money and donate it to a charity that gets wigs for children," said Gisler. "I raised over 500 dollars for that."
She also got Blockbuster to donate a 50-dollar gift certificate for a raffle. Gisler says she had a lot of fun helping people in Anchorage and urges other teens to do the same.
All about hair
