West Kelowna News

You can't say Trina Zuyderduyn is one to welch on a bet.

The teacher/librarian at Glenrosa Middle School bet her hair that the school couldn't raise $650 for the Haitian relief effort.

They did, she lost, and Wednesday over the lunch hour, she paid up.

"I asked for $650 which was $1 per student which I thought was reasonable to ask. We ended up with $1,160.75, almost double what I was hoping for," says Zuyderduyn.

"That was in over just three days with two bake sales and staff donations."

Zuyderduyn says the first of her two girls was born when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August of 2005.

"I am just much more aware of what's going on, the hurt that people have and how lucky we are to be in Canada."

She didn't quite get it all shaved off. Zuyderduyn left about an eighth of an inch to make sure her hair grew back by the summer.

She is going to be a bridesmaid later this year.

Zuyderduyn stated that part of the reason for putting out the challenge was to make the students more aware of what happened in Haiti.

"I think we had probably hundreds of students that had never heard of Haiti even after the earthquake hit. It was in such devastation before the earthquake and I thought it was important for students to understand that now is the chance to really make a difference in that country."

She wasn't sure how her family would react to the whole thing.

Zuyderduyn says her husband and daughters were made aware of the bet, but the rest of her family will have to wait to see for themselves.

Dozens of students packed into the school library to watch Zuyderduyn get her head shaved while several more got a glimpse through the window.

The $1,160 raised grew even more when Jimmy Nguyen, owner of Cabella Hair Design, agreed to donate $500 to the cause if any of the assembled students would donate their hair to the cause.

Grade seven student Connor Bomford was the first to take up the challenge.

"I don't know," said Bomford when asked why he agreed to get his head shaved.

"I needed to get a haircut anyway."

He won't need another one for quite some time.

All the money raised will go to the Humanitarian Coalition.