Teen donates 19 inches of hair to children with cancer before reporting Air Force Academy
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – A teen in Alabama has signed up to serve his country, but before his service began he had one more duty to his community.
Kieran Moïse has been growing a large afro, measuring 19 inches, over the past six years, “Good Morning America” reported.
But he knew when he was accepted to the U.S. Air Force Academy, the hair had to go — but he was determined to not let it just get swept into the garbage, The Associated Press reported.
“When I knew it was going off anyways, I wanted to do something good with it,” Moïse told “Good Morning America” shortly after the cutting last month.
Moïse donated his hair to the nonprofit Children With Hair Loss in memory of a friend who died from cancer, the AP reported. He had been inspired by a cancer fundraiser in 2019 where people were shaving their heads, GMA reported.
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The group makes wigs for children and teens who have medically related hair loss because of cancer, alopecia and burns.
He made an event of the moment.
Moïse made flyers and took to social media to invite everyone to a brewery in Huntsville, Alabama.
Friends, family and some of his teachers from as far back as elementary and middle school braided and then took up scissors to cut Moïse’s hair off.
In this photo provided by Gregg Gelmis, Kelly Moïse, left, watches her husband, Patrick Moïse, cut their son Kieran’s hair during a live donation fundraiser, "Kieran’s Curls for Cancer," for the nonprofit Children with Hair Loss and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Saturday, May 29, 2021, in Huntsville, Ala. So far, they’ve raised $35,000. (Courtesy of Gregg Gelmis via AP)
He also started a fundraiser called “Kieran’s Curls for Cancer” and hoped to raise $19,000 or $1,000 per inch of hair he had. But he blew past that amount, raising more than $35,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the organization that helped his friend Josh Quist. Quist died when the teens were in middle school.
Moïse wants to spread kindness over the world.
“I know I’ve had rough days where someone just does something nice for me or I see them do something nice to someone else, and I remember that the whole day,” he told the AP.
This photo combo of images taken Saturday, May 29, 2021, and provided by Gregg Gelmis, shows Kieran Moïse, 17, before and after having his 19-inch hair cut and donated to the nonprofit Children With Hair Loss, which provides human hair replacements to children and teenagers facing medically-related hair loss, in Huntsville, Ala. (Courtesy of Gregg Gelmis via AP)
