Today: Salon holding fund-raiser today to help sick children

Get new do while doing good.

Aslan, a Reno hair salon will celebrate its fourth anniversary splitting 100 percent of the proceeds between the Make A Wish Foundation for a child's wish and Kaelyn Marie Paxton who suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. That's sure to put spring in your step and bounce in your hair.

From 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p. m. on Oct. 3, Aslan’s stylists will be providing Kerastase treatments, cuts and styles, and mini Mirabella makeovers, in addition to food and drinks, a silent auction and a raffle for prizes. The 2006 Aslan Anniversary Celebration for Charity will take place at the salon located at 635 Sierra Rose Drive, Reno Nevada. The goal this year is to raise $12,000.

Aslan owner Tamera Schnarr said she could think of no better way to celebrate her salon’s fourth anniversary than another charity event.

“Previous years have been so successful that we decided to make this a tradition,” said Schnarr. “What better way to celebrate a year of great business than to give something back to our community and children in need.”

The 2005 celebration raised $9,000.00 for wishes for two local children. Zach, a six-year-old Reno boy who is fighting leukemia got to share the Disney trip of a lifetime with his family. Gabriella, a fourteen-year-old Reno girl who is waiting for a kidney transplant due to lupus-related kidney failure got to travel with her family to meet the star goalie from her favorite soccer team.

Kaelyn Marie Paxton was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia when she was two years old. Her treatment includes having a tube inserted in her chest that provides chemotherapy to combat her leukemia. Kaelyn has been in and out of hospitals for the last year and half being deprived of many of the fun things normal three-year-olds get to experience. Recently, the chest tube that provides her chemotherapy became infected and Kaelyn has been in intensive care since September 15, 2006. Money raised by the Aslan event will be put into a trust fund to help her family care for her medical needs and hopefully a much needed family vacation when she is released from the hospital.

Proceeds from the event will also go to grant a wish to a child through the Make-A-Wish foundation.

“These wishes bring hope, strength and joy to these wonderful children and their families,” said Jim Parry, Executive Director of Make A Wish Foundation Northern Nevada. “Thanks to Aslan and its generous customers, the money raised will fund a wish and a brave child and his family will get a respite from hospitals, pain, fear and the daunting challenges presented in treating their respective life-threatening diseases. “

Aslan began the tradition in 2004 when they raised $7,800 to benefit Jaden Murphy Tessier, the three-year-old son of an Aslan employee, who suffers from a congenital heart defect. A portion of the money raised also went to the local chapter of the American Heart Association.