Shaving my head for locks of love

My name is Michelle LaBrode I am a 30 year old photographer, my husband David Parslow is a 36 year old aircraft electrician and we have lived in NC for about 6 years now, since we moved from Massachusetts. This year was our first Christmas spent in NC as we spent the Christmas' before in Massachusetts with the exception of the year David was in Afghanistan and the year he was in Iraq. This Christmas we decided that instead of exchanging gifts we would volunteer and donate for the 12 Day of Christmas. What started out as us just wanting to be thankful for what we have and give back this Christmas turned into a big deal to our family and friends. We decided to start a facebook page and call it The 12 Days of Christmas Givethon in hopes of inspiring others to volunteer and donate this holiday season. We also wanted to provide people with information on where they could volunteer, how, when, and what it is like. We did a lot of research online and found some organizations that we were able to volunteer at and started filling our Days. 79 On the 1st Day of Christmas we donated toys to the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program to help less fortunate children. The 2nd Day of Christmas my mother Claire came to volunteer with us at The Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC where we helped to package food for it to go out to the local pantries and soup kitchens. Our 3rd Day of Christmas we worked with Wreaths Across America which is a nonprofit organization that was started in order to expand the wreath laying ceremony at Arlington Nation Cemetery. We volunteered to lay wreaths on veteran's grave stones to remember and honor those who served. The 4th Day of Christmas we went to Ray Baca's studio. Ray Baca Photographer and owner of Baca Photography and Joe Cheshire videographer and owner of Digital Wunderland Inc donated their time in order to document me and my husband shaving our heads in order for me to donate 24 inches of hair to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a public nonprofit organization that provides wigs to children who suffer from long term hair loss due to medical conditions. A few days later my brother Greg LaBrode also shaved his head to donate his hair and my father Paul LaBrode shaved his head to support us. For the 5th Day of Christmas we volunteered at the Salvation Army Christmas Center where we helped to fill Christmas stockings with donated toys, this year over 1,500 families in need will receive toys from The Christmas Center. On the 6th Day of Christmas my husband and I got to volunteer at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and help out at the saltwater touch tank which is one of the many volunteer stations at the aquarium. The 7th Day of Christmas my husband and I volunteered to work the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, we helped get house hold items ready to go out to be sold and we helped to unload donations that came in. For our 8th Day of Christmas we featured The Good Shepherd Center, whose mission is to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. We donated a garbage bag full of linens, another filled with clothes, and also a bag of food. Our 9th Day of Christmas we worked with Cape Fear Volunteer Center to volunteer at the Naughty or Nice 5K/10K race. On the 10th Day of Christmas we went to Paws Place Dog Rescue Center who is always in need of volunteers. On Christmas Eve the 11th Day of Christmas with the help of Cape Fear Volunteer Center, The Good Shepherd and The Global River Church we delivered 15 meals, out of the 560 total meals delivered all over New Hanover County to people in need. Lastly on the 12th Day of Christmas we featured Sgt. James Pierce's welcoming home in hopes to have our community remember all our soldiers who could not be with their families for the holidays. The community pulled together along with New Hanover County Fire Rescue, New Hanover County Police, The Human Wall, Step Up For Soldiers and Patriot Guard Riders to escort Sgt. Pierce, and line the streets to honor Sgt. Pierce and welcome him home for the holidays. We were honored to work with such amazing organizations and help to make a difference this holiday season. We have received endless support and encouragement from everyone we know and everyone we have met. My husband and I will continue to volunteer all through the year and we are going to keep up with the Facebook page. We encourage anyone to post on our page about upcoming volunteer opportunities and also to post pictures about how they give back to the community. To help support us and find out more about what we did this holiday season and how we will continue to give back please check out our facebook page: www.facebook.com/12DaysOfChristmasGivethon I was really nervous during the filming of this video so for information on Locks of Love please visit their website www.locksoflove.org Videography by Joe Cheshire of Digital Wunderland Inc Music by artist Josh Garrels www.joshgarrels.com