Stylists with Hearts
Beauty professionals taking part in HIV/ AIDS fundraiser
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
AIDS awareness never
looked so good.
AIDS Care Service is
gearing up for one of its
most popular fundraising
events of the year. The local
nonprofit, launched AIDS
Hair Service last fall.
Stylists hailing from seven
different salons took part in
the 2007 event, donating the
proceeds from a day's worth
of hair styling to ACS,
which offers resources and
programs to local people
living with HIV/AIDS.
"We felt it would really
appeal to all age^; every
body gets their hair cut,"
ACS President Christine
Jolly said of the fundraiser.
"This is the kind of event
where everyone can get
involved."
Patrons who visit partic
ipating salons for the Sept.
14 event are encouraged to
pay the off duty stylists
more than they typically
were charged (a donation of
$25 is suggested), as a sign
of support for the program.
More than 20 local styl
ists from a dozen salons
have signed on for the '08
fundraiser, nearly doubling
participation levels from its
inaugural year.
"I think it's sort of fresh
and new in the community,"
Jolly remarked. "We have
very diverse salons too, and
that was the intent of the
program from the ,start ."
The first Hair Service
event was beneficial for
stylists as well as ACS,
Jolly added.
"A lot ot them had an
opportunity to really build
their clientele because they
took walk- ins," she
revealed. "And anytime
that we get our name out
there, it builds awareness."
Shirley Bradley will be
participating in the AIDS
Hair Service event for the
first time this year. Bradley
first learned of the program
from ACS Community
Relations Director Amy
Lindkey. her client at West
End Hair Studio .
"1 just thought it was a
really good thing," said
Bradley, who has been a
stylist for nearly 40 years.
"To me, it was a no brain
er... I love what I do and if
I can do something to help
somebody else in the
process, that's wonderful."
Though she only has a
few appointments sched
uled, Bradley says she's
hopeful that walk-ins will
fill out the remainder of her
day so she can raise as much
money as possible for ACS.
"Out of all these years
I've worked, I think it's
time to do something to give
back," she related. "I hope
to stay busy the whole
time."
Golden Shears
Cosmetologist Greg Felts
was also excited to partici
pate in this year's AIDS
Hair Service event.
"I had always wanted to
help out with something in
the community as far as
AIDS is concerned," said
Felts, who added that he had
lost a dear friend to the dis
ease nearly a decade ago. "I
hope we'll be real success
ful with it."
Felts says he's encour
aging his AHS clients to
donate the considerable
amounts ($40 for a women's
haircut) they are accus
tomed to spending in
Golden Shears.
"I would like to raise
four or five hundred dol
lars," he remarked. "I
would donate all of it."
Felts learned of the proj
ect from his partner, Jim
Steele, a former member of
the now-defunct AIDS Task
Greg Felts
Force and a community
advisor for this year's cam
paign.
"It was such an impor
tant thing to be involved
in," Steele said. "It's
always exciting^lo do some
thing that's different and fun
and it's quick and easy... It
allows the average person to
make a small contribution to
a very important cause."
The 2008 AIDS Hair
Service event will be held
Sunday, Sept. 14 from 1-6
pm. To become an AHS
stylist or for a list of partic
ipating salons, visit
wwwxiidscareservice .org or
contact Lindsey, at 777
0116 ext. 104 or alind
sey@aidscare service .org .
Blackstock is new chair of
cancer department at Baptist
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center announced last week
that Dr. A. William Blackstock Jr.,
has been named chair of hospital's
radiation oncology
wing.
The appointment of
Blackstock, a professor
of radiation oncology,
became effective Aug.
31. He replaces Dr.
Edward G. Shaw, who
had been chair since
1995. Shaw stepped
down to pursue a mas
ter's degree in counsel
ing.
Blackstock was
recently named one of
the nation's < top
Atncan-Amencan doctors oy tsiacK
Enterprise magazine. He earned his
medical degree from East Carolina
School of Medicine and completed
his residency and fellowship at
University of North Carolina
Hospitals. He told The Chronicle in
May that he is one of a very few doc
tors who have fellowships under
their belts.
"If there's anything in my story
that makes me a little bit different,
it's the fellowship; most folks don't
go back and do fellowships after res
idency," he said. "For me, the
Dr. Blackstock
research I was able to gel done in
those three years really was the
launching pad for things that hap
pened to me subsequently, because I
actually had some experience, some
expertise that not many people had."
Blackstock has been
on the faculty of Wake
Forest University Baptist
Medical Center since
1996. He is an accom
plished clinical trial
investigator in lung and
gastrointestinal cancers
who has been the princi
pal or co-principal inves
tigator for 10 national and
international research
studies.
Blackstock says that
as an African-American
doctor and researcher, he
brings a different perspective to a
field that has a very limited number
of blacks. He recalled making a key
observation that had been over
looked by his peers while working
on a large scale lung cancer trial.
"I asked 'How did the African
American patients do?' I'm always
curious ... and the response was,
'Well I don't know,"' he related dur
ing the recent interview. "We went
back ... and we looked to see how
African American patients did, and
as it turns out, African American
patients had lower survival."
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