Physics Student Goes ‘Bald for Bucks’ and Raises $2,525 for Cancer Research

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Summer Saraf

Summer Saraf expects to use a lot of sunscreen this year—at least until her hair grows back.

Saraf, a third-year physics major and honor student, shaved her head last month to raise money for the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. She raised $2,525 through Roswell’s Goin’ Bald for Bucks program.

“I know a lot of really generous people,” Saraf said.

Saraf—who knows a thing about generosity herself— donated her hair to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.

“They make wigs for children who are in financial need for the wigs,” Saraf says. “You can donate your hair to them and they give wigs free to little kids. They make very good wigs that suction to little kids’ head so they can swim in them or wear them upside down, and they don’t fall off.”

Most women cringe at the thought of seeing their own shiny scalp. But Saraf had already donated her hair once before, and she knew what to expect.

“Even if I shaved my head and it looked really bad, I’d be okay in three or four months,” she says. “But people told me I had a great-shaped head, so I didn’t feel scared about going bald again.”

Saraf will be spending the summer in professor Scott Franklin’s lab studying granular material and not worrying a bit about her hair.