House Resolution 130

A RESOLUTION OBSERVING "HAIR FOR HER DAY" IN MISSISSIPPI ON APRIL 20, 2024, AND COMMENDING MS. GRACIE BASSETT FOR HER OUTSTANDING SERVICE AND CONTRIBUTIONS THROUGH HER COMMUNITY SERVICE INITIATIVE FOR MISS MISSISSIPPI 2024, HAIR FOR HER.

WHEREAS, Ms. Gracie Bassett is competing in Miss Mississippi 2024, and her community service initiative is Hair For Her, a hair donation program that she created for women and children who are living with cancer and hair loss conditions, a truly extraordinary endeavor; and

WHEREAS, established by Ms. Bassett in 2021, Hair For Her is a hair donation program with a mission to collect hair donations and raise funds to defray the cost of buying human hair wigs (cranial prostheses) for women and children with cancer, alopecia, and other hair loss conditions; and

WHEREAS, with a long-standing history of hair donation that dates back 17 years, Ms. Bassett has donated her hair nine times, totaling over six feet of hair, and was part of a donation day in 2007 that set a record in the Guinness Book of World Records; and

WHEREAS, women and children who live with cancer or hair loss conditions know the cost of a human hair wig can easily exceed several thousand dollars, and these costs are rarely covered by insurance; and

WHEREAS, to donate to Hair For Her, one must give at least eight inches of hair of any color or texture, and all hair donations and funds raised are sent to Pink Heart Funds of Long Beach, Mississippi, which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that creates and distributes human hair wigs; and

WHEREAS, to promote this distinguished cause, Ms. Bassett started an Instagram account for Hair For Her, @hairforher.donate, where she showcases recent donors, along with short testimonials from those that have donated about why they decided to donate their hair; and

WHEREAS, in January 2024, Ms. Bassett hosted the first fundraising event for Hair For Her in Clinton, Mississippi, called Walk for Wigs, where over $1,700.00 was raised to purchase wigs, and in April 2024, she will attend the Ribbon Walk, hosted in Long Beach by Pink Heart Funds, where she will present a check for the funds raised by Hair For Her to Pink Heart Funds, along with over 50 hair donations that she has collected thus far; and

WHEREAS, publications in the National Library of Medicine, such as studies by K. Münstedt et al. and Rosman, have quantitatively explored the negative effects of hair loss induced by cancer treatment, and found that almost half of female cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy consider hair loss to be the most traumatic part of cancer treatment, and in one study, eight percent of them considered declining treatment out of fear of losing their hair, thus, clearly, hair means more than meets the eye; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Bassett believes that everyone walking the difficult journey of cancer and hair loss should have the opportunity to reclaim what illness has taken from them, and for many, that starts with their hair; and

WHEREAS, cranial prostheses are an invaluable resource and expensive to purchase, however, much awareness has yet to be drawn to the cause of hair donation, and because of this, it is most fitting to observe "Hair For Her Day" in Mississippi on April 20, 2024, in hope that the citizens of this great Magnolia State will recognize hair donation as a unique way to give back to their communities and will make a cut for the cause together:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby observe "Hair For Her Day" in Mississippi on April 20, 2024, and commend Ms. Gracie Bassett for her outstanding service and contributions through her community service initiative for Miss Mississippi 2024, Hair For Her, and express our most sincere wishes for continued success in all her future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Ms. Gracie Bassett, and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.