Growing long hair takes a lot of time and patience, but it’s all paying off for Stacie Lanners. She will cut off almost 30 inches of hair to help others.

Lanners is donating her hair to Locks of Love, and turning the donation into a fundraiser for Relay For Life at the same time.

The 21-year-old young woman has had long hair for almost her entire life.

“People aren’t going to be able to recognize her without it,” said her mom, Bonnie Nichols.

The mother-daughter team sent out 26 invitations to friends and loved ones and told them what Lanners was up to.

They also put together raffle baskets for their Relay For Life/Locks of Love fundraiser.

“We just wanted to see if we could do it,” Nichols said. “We wanted to see if people would respond to our card — because I don’t think anyone else has ever raffled their hair off.”

They did respond.

Lanners and her mother have raised almost $700, and counting, to support cancer patients and the fight against cancer.

The Locks of Love donation is being made

possible by local Color Box Hair Salon stylists Shawn Nordin, Amy Cyprian and Andrea Greenwold.

They are joining Relay For Life efforts by snipping and clipping during their usual day off.

“Shawn actually asked me about this event as

I was handing out Relay flyers; I didn’t bring it up to him,” said Cindy Miller, Relay For Life publicity chairwomen.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Nordin said. “So I talked to my partner, and we decided that we would both donate our time on a Sunday.”

Relay For Life organizers are thrilled that Color Box employees are supporting Lanners and the Relay For Life event.

“I think they both deserve a big pat on the back for wanting to be a part of the solution,” Miller said.

Lanners is excited to get her hair cut and support a good cause.

“She has been attending special needs classes through kindergarten to high school here,” Nichols said.

Lanners’ sweet spirit and generosity have made quite the impact on her community.

“All of her support here in the community is pretty good,” Nichols said. “She’s pretty well known.”

Lanners is still accepting donations for her fundraiser. They can be mailed to her or dropped off at Linds in Freeland. One-dollar raffle tickets can be purchased at Linds’ stores in Freeland, Coupeville and Langley.

Lanners will donate the money she has raised for Relay For Life in the name of a relative, her Aunt Karen, who passed away from cancer three years ago.

Lanners and her mother plan to present the funds raised at the start of the Relay For Life event on June 23.