Oren Sendel is known for three things: his love of drumming, his “larger than life personality” and his long, wavy hair.
“It makes me very unique to my classmates. It makes me, me,” Sendel said.
“It also helps because I’m a drummer, so the hair shake works.”
But in a few days, his trademark locks will be gone.
Sendel is planning to chop all his hair before his Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish rite of passage into adulthood.
Once his defining curls are gone, he said he’ll feel a lot different.
“Probably going to weigh ten pounds less,” Sendel said.
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The 12-year-old has been on this charitable mission for three years.
Sendel has been growing his hair to give to Angel Hair for Kids, a non-profit that makes wigs for sick children.
“I always want to do good, so I figured it would be the best way,” he explained.
Sendel is not only donating his hair, he’s asking people to also sponsor his haircut.
The proceeds will go to the Montreal Neurological Institute to help people cope with multiple sclerosis, a disease his mother was diagnosed with.
“It struck him. It struck all my kids pretty hard, but he has an opportunity to give back, to help,” Laurie Sendel.
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“I’m not going to make that much for research, but what I can do is, let’s say they need a cab — that money will pay for it or it will offset the money for the medicine. Or if they need a cane, they can get a cane,” he said.
“I want them to feel relieved that they don’t need to worry about it.”
He said seeing what his mother is going through made him want to give back.