This past week, local hair stylist at Off the Top Salon, Kelly Henning (known to most as KK), won $10,000 for a charity that is very close to her heart, Chemo Buddies.

Earlier this year, Kelly applied for the Wella Hair Color Line's Charity Challenge. While she was still in cosmetology school, Kelly met Karen Whilhite-Williams. Karen was undergoing chemo treatments and the two formed a relationship when they were introduced through a mutual friend. Kelly helped Karen through the heart-breaking process of losing her hair. During Karen's treatment she conceived the idea of Chemo Buddies with her sister Jill Kincaid, who stayed by her side through the long, bitter hours of chemo. Unfortunately, Karen lost her battle with cancer in 2011 but her legacy lives on through her family, friends and her sister Jill, who continues to pursue Karen's dream through the local charity. Through two rounds of Facebook voting, Chemo Buddies received the most votes in the competition. Though Wella Hair Color Line only said that voting was a portion of deciding what charity would receive the check, we assume Kelly and Karen's special bonding through hair styling played a major factor.
On a personal note, I've been friends, co-workers and now a client of KK for many, many years and not only is she amazing at what she does but has the most giving heart. I love my time in the chair with Kelly and I'm so glad she had the honor of passing along this check to such a great local charity as Chemo Buddies.
For more information about Chemo Buddies, click here.

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