GLENDALE : Salon Raises $4,000 to Fight Cystic Fibrosis

Don’t hate Glendale residents because they’re beautiful.

They had their hair styled and nails manicured not in pursuit of high fashion, but to raise money in the name of a 2 1/2-year-old Burbank girl who has cystic fibrosis, the No. 1 genetic killer of children and young adults.

Gail Becker of Signatures Styling in Glendale partnered with Linda and Kevin Muldoon, parents of Madeline, for a 12-hour haircut-a-thon Sunday to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Hacienda Heights. Just over $4,000 was raised thanks to the 150 clients that dropped in at the Signatures Styling salon.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation divides all donations between research, health care and public education for this cureless disease that attacks the respiratory and digestive systems of its victims, according to its director of development, Mary Schraeger. Currently, researchers are experimenting with gene therapy, Schraeger said.

Linda Muldoon said that she wanted to raise funds for cystic fibrosis research, but was searching for a creative way to get her community excited about getting involved. “Instead of just writing a personal check, we thought of a cut-a-thon,” said Muldoon, who contacted Becker about her idea.

Having gathered 20 stylists for the event, Becker said she was especially excited to see the members of her industry come together. “There’s no competition here. It’s all for the same cause,” Becker said.

“It’s a good cause,” said Christina Olesijuk of Glendale, as she had her bangs trimmed.

Becker said she also had a client come in to have her hair cut Sunday who had come in for an appointment earlier that week. “She said, ‘It just grew so much in three days,’ ” Becker chuckled.

The $4,000 collected through the haircut-a-thon will not go directly toward Madeline’s bills, but Muldoon said she wants to have another fund-raiser to set up a foundation to buy her daughter a $20,000 air machine that insurance will not cover.

At present, Muldoon has to help Madeline clear her lungs of the tar-like mucus that builds up and put her on an aerosol machine, a process that takes three hours every day. The air machine would cut physical therapy time in half, said Muldoon.