Cutting hair for a cause
Published 9:01 pm Wednesday, November 6, 2019
A group of area barbers are getting together once again for the Cutting for a Cause Hair Cutting Marathon Sunday.
Proceeds from the Sunday event, which will go from 6 a.m. to midnight at the Unity Brothers Lounge at 1226 White Marsh Road, will go to Marcus Evans, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2017 and has to travel to treatments at the Cancer Research Centers of America facility in Atlanta, Ga.
The cost of the haircut is a donation to help Evans and his family.
Alton Knight, a barber who is helping to organize the event, said the event is important to all of the barbers taking part.
“For most of us, we’ve had family members who’ve had a bout with cancer, so that’s why it’s near and dear to our hearts,” Knight said. “The struggle is real. When cancer patients suffer, their families suffer.”
Renyta Whitfield, a longtime friend of Evans, said it is personal for her, and it means a lot to help out her friend.
“We’re just trying to put it out there to help him and support him,” Whitfield said. “It’s hard on (his wife) to deal with everything.”
Whitfield describes Evans as a laid-back person who loves basketball, his wife and his three children — “they mean the world to him,” she said.
“It’s all about basketball for him,” Whitfield said. “He’s like a gentle giant, and he loves his family.”
Knight said there will be five chairs set up for the barbers to cut hair, and other barbers will be coming in from out of town to donate their time for Evans. There will be a DJ playing throughout the event, and vendors will be there selling merchandise also.
“It’ll be pretty lively,” Knight said.
He said that while fatigue sets in over the course of the event, they all push through knowing the money they raise will go toward a good cause.
“You become numb after a couple of hours,” Knight said. “But we just do it.”
For Whitfield, she just wants her friend’s cancer to go back into remission and for him to feel better so he can be there for his family. She said everyone is hoping and praying for the best for him.
“He’s trying to fight this,” Whitfield said, “to see his kids grow up.”