Four-year-old Ellah Rae Potvin's first big hair cut is for a good cause.
Last week, she chopped her long locks to donate to Wigs for Kids, a non-profit organization that makes custom hairpieces.
Ellah lives in Timmins with her parents Shannon Pilon and Tyler Potvin.
When a family friend got a wig while going through cancer treatment, Pilon explained it led to a discussion.
"Also when the family friend lost her hair, she was sad and lost a lot of self confidence. Ellah would always say 'you can have some of mine', and I think that’s really how it became a thing to donate the hair," she said.
Over the years, Pilon said Ellah's hair has been trimmed. As a fan of Tangled, a Disney movie based on Rapunzel, Ellah's hair had always been long.
When she decided to cut her hair short, they talked about being able to donate it to be made into a wig.
“We decided together that (Wigs for Kids is) where we were going to go because she wanted to help a little boy or a little girl that lost their hair from sickness or whatever the cause was,” she said.
When Pilon posted about it on Facebook, she added the donate button. Along with donating Ellah's ponytail, they raised more than $80 for the organization.
"People just started donating money and saying how great of a cause it was and they were congratulating her and proud of her,” Pilon recalled.
On the day of the big cut, Pilon said Ellah was excited.
“I of course cried because I was proud of her. She was happy,” she said.
Ellah is also now a strong advocate for donating.
"When she sees anyone with long hair she’s sure to explain to them how great of an idea it is to donate their hair for wigs," said Pilon.
