Cansa Shavathon turns 20, fun begins on February 25

The Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) 20th annual Shavathon fundraiser takes place at various shopping centres across the country on February 25, with certain venues also hosting events on February 26.

Workplaces, businesses, clubs, organisations and schools can host events from February 27 to March 31.

Shavathon is one of the highlights on the Cansa calendar bringing families, friends and colleagues in solidarity with cancer survivors.

Losing hair is a common side-effect of cancer treatment, so participants show support by donating a fee to shave or spray their hair.

Elize Joubert, the Cansa CEO, said they are overwhelmed to still be running the Shavathon after all these years and more so for the ongoing enthusiasm of South Africans to support it.

Shaving your hair or spraying it in a variety of colours requires a donation of R50 per adult and R25 for children under 12.

All funds go towards providing Cansa education and screening initiatives, as well as care and support service to cancer patients and loved ones.

“We challenge workplaces and organisations to take part in this special event and have fun with it! Why not see which department or branch can raise the most funds with their Shavathon or collect the most hair donations – teams can compete against each other to see who raises the most online by creating an online fundraising page per team on our Shavathon event page on GivenGain.

“Our top corporate team raising the most funds will win a prize. And if you are working from home, you can still join in by paying a ‘bailout fee’ online,” said Joubert.

Stencils are available to add fun designs when spraying hair and donations of hair can be made towards making a wig for cancer survivors.

The coloured spray is safe to use because it is made of vegetable dye and comes out when washing your hair.

A limited-edition certificate of honour will be given to those who make hair donations of 25cm or longer and limited edition Cansa headwear is available for R55 per item (while stocks last).

Did you know? The first Shavathon took place at the ‘Crazy Zebra’ in Gqeberha in 2003. Hosted by a local biker group, the initiative was started to show support for a member affected by cancer and this is still the main focus of the event today.

20 ways to make a difference
Although Shavathon is hosted once a year, Cansa’s services are ongoing. Being a non-profit organisation, Cansa is reliant on the kindness and generosity of donors and sponsors to continue with its service delivery across South Africa.

Some ways in which you can join the fight against cancer through your Shavathon donation and more:
1. Give your ponytail wings by donating R20, along with your hair donation, towards courier fees to send the hair donations to our wig maker.
2. Donate a new, or pre-loved, wig to Cansa for patients in need.
3. Donate towards the printing of the pamphlets CancerCare Coping Kits, the Cansa At Home Pain Guide and the Cansa At Home Guide for Children with Pain.
4. Donate towards the printing of educational materials (posters, pamphlets) to be used at oncology units.
5. Donate groceries to Cansa Care Homes and Cansa TLC facilities.
6. Donate Cansa Care Packs for patients.
7. Donate fuel for Cansa’s Care Home vehicles.
8. Share posts from Cansa social media pages so that more people can see our important health, advocacy and care and support messages.
9. Donate consumables used for screenings, like speculums, disposable gloves, and linen savers at Cansa Care Centres.
10. Donate towards the purchase of consumables, like needles, glucose test strips and finger pricks directly to Cansa Care Centres.
11. Purchase a Compassionate Hat for a cancer patient.
12. Purchase a voucher towards a patient’s mastectomy bra or prosthesis or sponsor Knitted Knockers for others to knit.
13. Donate R10 000 towards a mobile clinic visit to rural areas to perform 50 prostate-specific antigens (PSA), lifestyle risk assessments and educational cancer awareness (including a driver, a nurse and volunteers).
14. Donate R10 000 towards a mobile clinic visit to rural areas to perform 50 Pap smears, lifestyle risk assessments and educational cancer awareness (including a driver, a nurse, and volunteers).
15. Are you a copywriter or translator? Volunteer your time to copy write and translate Cansa materials to other languages to extend our reach as Cansa.
16. Donate R7 500 towards 100 faecal occult blood (FOB) home test kits.
17. Donate R3 750 towards 50 faecal occult blood (FOB) home test kits.
18. Raise funds on Cansa’s online fundraising platform.
19. Sign up as a volunteer with Cansa.
20. Conduct a recreational session with patients at Cansa Care Homes, like arts, crafts, painting, and knitting.

For more information, contact Melissa Zaayman at Cansa at mzaayman@cansa.org.za/084 989 6890 or Lucy Balona at lbalona@cansa.org.za or phone 0800 22 66 22.

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