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Banting student will shed long locks for charity

June 10, 2021   ·   0 Comments

His long hair may define his current look and is instantly recognizable to family and friends, but Isaac Vestby said “it isn’t the defining factor of who I am.”

Isaac plans on having his locks clipped to raise funds for two local charities.

The Grade 12 Banting Memorial High School student has long been involved in fundraising, volunteer work, and leadership initiatives, and he wants to end his high school career by doing something that is not only a little over the top, it will give back to one of the organizations that has helped him in his own endeavours as a trampoline gymnast.

Isaac started volunteering with school groups and then became involved with groups outside of school.

“I really wanted to get involved in the community more and it really started to take off when I went to high school,” Isaac said of his start in volunteering. “I started to join clubs and that’s when my volunteer work really started. That transitioned into community volunteer work. The biggest club I joined was a mental health club and we work to promote mental of students around us. I started to volunteer for other clubs as well, then started volunteering at my gym.”

As a national trampolinist, he volunteered as a coach and took part in demonstrations like the Alliston Potato Festival.

He is hoping to raise $5,000 to support two charities.

Angel Hair for Kids, is an organization that provides wigs and hair replacement for financially disadvantage youth who have lost their hair due to medical treatment or conditions.

Youth Reach is an organization that provides grants to help families pay for registration fees for various programs.

Isaac said Youth Reach helped him in his career as a trampolinist and he wants to give back.

“My long hair has been a long joke between me and my family and me and my friends,” Isaac explained. “As I approached the end of high school, I wanted to do something big to change my persona. I’ve had long hair my entire life. It’s a big step but it’s not a defining factor of who I am. I decided that with all the connections I’ve made over the years I wanted to do some sort of fundraiser to go out with a bang when finishing high school.

“Angel Hair for Kids, through hair and financial donations provide wigs and hair systems at no cost to the child’s family. Youth Reach is a Simcoe County charity helps families to enroll their children in programs they may not be able to afford. I had to reach out to them when I moved to the provincial and national level in my trampoline career. In the future I wasn’t going to be able to attend bigger competitions without their support so I reached out to them and they’ve been supporting me and funding a lot of my training over the past three years.”

Isaac will be having his long hair cut on Tuesday, June 22, at the Karma Hair Salon, at 169 Victoria St. E. in Alliston.

The shears will start snipping at 4:00 p.m.

If possible, this will be a live event with social distancing. If that is not possible due to COVID restrictions, the event will be live streamed.

To donate and get links to the event, visit www.youthreach.ca/thebigevent.

By Brian Lockhart
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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