Wig Night Out
A hair-raising fundraiser for the LBF
When Chinda Uch took a telephone call from her 11-year-old sister, Kanika on a run-of-the-mill autumn day this year, she was totally unprepared to hear the word ‘leukaemia’.
The youngster, who had only just started at Manurewa Intermediate in Russell Road, had just been diagnosed with the disease – one of the four people every day in New Zealand who find out they are living with leukaemia and other blood cancers.
She had shown few symptoms and her parents had initially put her headaches, paleness and nausea down to the excitement of starting a new school.
Kanika immediately began chemotherapy treatment, while her family attempted to come to terms with the news. Meanwhile, Chinda and her friends were already busy working out how they could help her sister.
The enterprising 28-year-old from Western Springs and her two close friends, Natalie Dyresen and Leehane Stowers, dreamt up Wig Night Out, which raised more than $2,700 for the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation.
Around 300 partygoers danced the night away at Fu Bar in Queen Street on Friday 6 July, 2007, to sounds from Concord Dawn, The Roll Crew, Tony Phoenix, DJ Kronikal, DJ Maesta, Funkshun, Helix and bands Full Code and Retainers.
Chinda, Natalie and Leehane asked guests to turn up sporting wigs of every shape and length, to show sympathy for chemotherapy patients who lose their hair.
Chinda said: “I had always wanted to do something for charity and when I heard about Kanika I started thinking about what I could do. I had been to dance parties, had lots of friends that could help with bands and we knew DJs and so this seemed like a really good idea.”
“The wigs were fantastic - some bright, some colourful, some big, some small. It was wonderful to see everyone getting into the spirit of Wig Night Out and they enjoyed themselves a lot.
“We received great feedback but it wouldn’t have worked without my friends who helped so much. We would definitely love to organise something like this every year.”
Gareth from Fu Bar provided the venue and helped where he could, while all the acts donated their time. The Ascott Hotel even gave Evan from Concord Dawn a room for the night, and c27 (Dj Kronikal) designed the flyers and tickets free of charge, while Beautiful Art donated money towards printing costs.
Their generosity meant all the money raised from ticket sales and collections, $5,468.00, could be shared between the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation and Starship Children’s Hospital, where Kanika has been treated as an out-patient.
Although Kanika couldn’t attend, Chinda videoed the evening, including messages from all her friends. She also made sure she got the autographs of all the big acts for Kanika.
Pru Etcheverry, Executive Director of the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation, said: “This really was so generous of Chinda and a very original idea. We rely entirely on fundraising so are always thrilled when the public help us like this.”
The Wig Night Out was in direct contrast to the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation’s signature fundraising event, Shave for a Cure®, where participants shave their heads in return for sponsorship.