Teen Loses Hair But Finds Money for Research

The 13-year-old Warson Woods girl let a hairstylist wielding an electric razor shave off all of her shoulder-length blond hair to raise money for cancer research.

“It just feels good to help people and show people that I can do more than just give a few dollars to charity,” Philippe said.

The seventh grader at and seven of her family members raised about $2,200 through pledges for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization that raises money to fight childhood cancer.

Not only that, but Mikki donated her sandy blond hair to Locks of Love, the nonprofit group that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged kids who have lost their own hair to illness.

It was the second time this year she had donated to Locks of Love. Back in January, she donated about 10 inches of hair, said her mother, Jennifer Philippe.

“She had long, beautiful hair,” Jennifer Philippe said. “I think a lot of girls freak out if they get a little too much trimmed. But she was gung ho.”

Mikki and her mother, father, grandmother, uncle, two older brothers and younger brother Chase, a sixth grader at NKMS, created a team to honor Jennifer’s sister, Sara Davis, who is fighting leukemia. On Saturday, March 5, Sara’s Soldiers sat down together on the stage at the St. Baldrick’s event at Helen Fitzgerald’s in Sunset Hills and let the hairdressers shave away.

“It was a really exciting experience,” Mikki said. “Everyone was cheering in the crowd. I was really happy and then I cried happiness tears when I was done.”

Back at school on Monday, Mikki felt the stares and heard the kids whispering about her bald head. But it didn’t faze her.

“She’s such a cool kid,” said her mom. “I think it hurt me more than it hurt her. She said, ‘That’s OK. I know why I did it.”’

After all, Mikki knows her hair will grow back in time. She’s gone through this before.

Four years ago, when she was just 9, Mikki shaved her head to honor her grandmother, who was dying of cancer. Mikki’s grandma died three months later.