Taming the Lion's Mane

: by Super User; on 06 June 2016

Out of 2016 has come another amazing “Ripple of Reality Rally” story.

On March 31st, a week before Reality Rally in April, I received this Facebook message from Jason Szabo:

“Hey buddy. So I was thinking. I'm willing to donate my hair if we can raise 1k for charity and would be willing to do it at the reality rally event. Let me know if you're interested in setting something up.”

My first thought was that it was so close to Reality Rally and I was pretty slammed with the event details to help make it happen. But...as I began thinking more I knew we could help. That message set the wheels in motion to make it happen.

Rich Kee, our awesome photographer who makes all our Reality Rally fundraising and team templates, got to work immediately to help with Jason’s plan. In a day he sent out this…

Thanks to all these generous donors, Jason almost made it to his goal of $1,000.

(Donors: Sarah Webster, Kirk Bruno, Jesse Larson, Nathan Hoff, David Canterbury, Acala Harrison, Kris Szabo, Kathryn Drye, Tom Szabo, Holly Socciarelli, Breton Williams, Kelly M. Griffin, Kimberlyn Kern, Beverly Gilmore, Tamara Johnson, Jon Barton, and Annie Lutterman.)

Once again, Jason’s Facebook post was seen and he was given his last donation at Reality Rally to get him to his $1000 goal. Lena Vinzant, who is the Owner and Founder of Southwest California Pageants, The Majestic Miss Scholarship Pageant and Owner at Unofficial Cardboard, donated to get him to his goal. She saw him at the Reality Rally Celebrity Reception on the red carpet and the offer was made.

“I want to get him to his goal,” she said.

I racked my brain to see where we could fit in a haircut into our weekend schedule and I just couldn’t find that time. The weekend timeframe is tight and set weeks ahead which Jason could see when he was here. Undaunted in fulfilling his mission to “cut his hair for charity”, Jason did.

Here is what he has to say:

“I hadn't cut my hair in 4 years, not even a trim, and just donated 14 1/2 inches for hitting my 1k goal for Michelle's Place. My mother is a breast cancer survivor and I'm truly honored to have been invited and allowed to raise funds for such a great charity. Every single person I had the pleasure of meeting and all of the staff involved in making Reality Rally happen I couldn't be more proud of. All the time and effort involved is truly inspirational and I can't wait to contribute further. Thank you all for your time, generosity and amazing hearts. It's an admirable cause ran by admirable people. The least I could do is donate my lions mane to those who can truly use it and appreciate it. That hair was with me in the jungle in Guyana where I survived 3 weeks for the show Naked and Afraid on Discovery Channel to honor my grandfather Ted Gedicke who passed away from cancer in 1997.”

Jason then contacted Ashlee at Michelle’s Place and his mission became two-fold. He raised the $1,000 for Michelle’s Place and then sent his cut hair to them so it could go to a wig maker and be “double good”.

Thank you Jason. We love having caring folks like you at Reality Rally. See you in April 2017!