Haircuts that count

Daniela Falagan eagerly waved a poster board she made at drivers along Adams Avenue. Since 10 a.m., 8-year-old Daniela and her entire Brownie Troop 371 from Huntington Beach stood on the side of the road trying to catch the attention of anyone who could donate some time for a good cause and a great haircut.

Inside the Paul Mitchell School right behind the girls, people jammed the waiting area of the salon to get a $20 trim or $15 wax and tweeze for the Cut-A-Thon. Every cent earned that day will be donated to the Orange County AIDS Walk 2007, to be held Saturday at the Angels Stadium in Anaheim.

Daniela was so moved by participating in the event, she decided to join the walk that in previous years occurred on the UC Irvine campus. After two hours of sign holding and yelling at passing cars, Daniela plopped into one of the salon’s black padded chairs to get a trim from Norma Metrics.

“I’m excited to walk,” Daniela said as Metrics cut her hair. Sandie Falagan was thrilled to see her daughter so involved.

“She’s helping raise money to fight a disease at such a young age,” Falagan said just before she went to get a trim as well. “I’m very proud.”

Roughly 20 stylists shampooed, cut and curled Sunday, mostly from Paul Mitchell. Others like Metrics and her husband, Pancho, drove down from Glendora to help the best way they knew how, with a pair of scissors and a cheery attitude.

The event put on in cooperation by the AIDS Service Foundation and Paul Mitchell staff raised nearly $3,000. By 11:30 a.m. they had already surpassed their total of $2,000 from the last Cut-A-Thon held two years ago.

More than 100 people had reserved spots for the Cut-A-Thon online, before salon doors opened Sunday.

Through donations and fundraisers such as the cut-a-thon, the group has raised more than $400,000. All money raised at the walk will serve more than 8,000 men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Orange County, according to the website.

This disease hurts neighbors and house wives, not just people thousands of miles away, said Joe Cook-Giles, a former employee of the service foundation.

“This is way to raise public awareness,” Cook-Giles said. For more information about AIDS Walk call (949) 809-5750 or visit www.ocasf.org.