University of Nevada, Reno staff member Ginger Fenwick is getting in the holiday spirit by donating 25 inches of her hair to Pantene Pro-V's Beautiful Lengths program in memory of the late University graduate Kayla Nebeker Karhohs. Karhohs lost her battle with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in December 2006.

Fenwick is scheduled to have her hair cut at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 13 at the Tangerine Aveda Salon at the Summit Sierra Mall. Tangerine Aveda is donating the cost of both the haircut and style to Fenwick.

When Kayla found out she had this rare brain cancer, Fenwick said, Kayla would come and talk to me with great sadness about losing her hair. She was grieving before the treatments even took her hair away. It was devastating to her self-image.

Glioblastoma multiforme is a primary form of brain cancer. This means that it is a cancer originating from cells that make up the tissues of the brain. "At the time I hadn't thought about donating my hair," Fenwick said, "Then I saw Oprah Winfrey cut (actress) Hillary Swank's hair and the light bulb turned on. It was then I realized that I wanted to give another woman battling cancer a great holiday gift; the gift of hair."

The Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths program is a first-of-its-kind campaign encouraging people to grow, cut and donate their healthy hair to make free wigs for women who have lost their hair to cancer treatment. Once the company receives a donation, it is sent to the leading global producer of real-hair wigs and extensions, HairUWear. Donations are then transformed into high-quality, hand-tied wigs. It takes six to eight ponytails to make one wig. The free wigs are then distributed through the American Cancer Society's extensive network of wig banks across the country. "My hair is like my twin, but I am ready to start the New Year with a new "do" in honor of Kayla," Fenwick said.