CV students go blond as part of food drive challenge

Tucker Stout snapped a photo of his head covered in gelatinous paste.

“Gee, I’ve been taking selfies this whole time,” he said to his friend Gerardo Ramirez.

The two were having their hair bleached along with four others at Paul Mitchell the School as part of a pledge to fellow students at Central Valley High School: They would bleach their hair if students raised at least $10,000 for Spokane Valley Food Bank. If they raised $15,000, they’d dye it pink.

When everything had been counted, students collected 26,500 pounds of food and $12,600 in cash.

Elena Townsend, a senior and co-chairwoman of the food drive, said the drive was a little different this year. In the past, classrooms competed to see who could collect the most.

“The same classroom won every year,” she said. “This year, it was more effort-based.”

Leadership class adviser Leanne Donley said students from all walks of life participated in the food drive.

“I was surprised at how much food was brought in,” Townsend said. She said many students trick-or-treated for cans of food and many students purchased T-shirts, raising $1,000.

But much of the motivation was to see the six teens bleach their hair.

Ramirez, a senior, said a buddy came up with the idea.

More guys signed on, but soon, the buddy chickened out.

The six put fliers up around the school announcing the pledge.

“My name was put on the list,” said senior Daisy Daines, the Associated Student Body president. “I was kind of shocked at first.”

“To be honest, I didn’t think we were going to make it,” Stout, a junior said.

Junior Braden Corigliano and seniors Hayden Wolrehammer and Lowell Kovacich also were part of the challenge.

Donley said the staff at Paul Mitchell donated the hair-bleaching service.

“Otherwise, it would be a peroxide bottle in somebody’s basement,” she said.

Scott Beck, the admissions leader at Paul Mitchell, said he was thrilled to be a part of the fundraising effort by the students and support a local high school.

“The girls are having a blast with it,” he said.

The six came out of the rinsing station one by one to cheers of delight from friends and classmates.

All of them seemed to like their new look.

“Oh, my goodness,” Daines said when he looked in the mirror. “It’s different. It’s way different. I like it.”