CHARLESTON - Heidi Preston was twisting a strand of her thick brown hair before she lost it for a good cause Saturday afternoon.

She and Kerianna Roberts, both Charleston High School students, raised $1,012 in four days for the St. Balderick's Foundation fundraiser Saturday at The Razorz Edge. They and many others volunteered to have their heads shaved to help in the fight against kids' cancer.

"Hey, that's for a good cause. There's not any deciding on it," said Preston of the move to bare her scalp and part of the sales pitch to get donations from students at the high school earlier in the week.

"We do a lot of volunteering," said Roberts, who, with Preston, donated some of her blonde tresses to Locks of Love, another cancer-related charity, earlier this year.

Though they showed a no-fear attitude, they were both prepared for the scalp shock. They had brought bandannas for their soon-to-be bare heads.

Stacey Lanphier, Razorz Edge owner, and stylists Krystal Cummings, Brooke Groff and Jennifer Waggoner were making the hair fly off Saturday as many shavees took the chairs outside under a tent.

"We have more than $4,500 in online donations now. We started at noon and have shaved three so far, and we have 20 people signed up. And they are girls and guys," Lanphier said while donning a green bowler topped with shamrock in honor of the St. Balderick's effort.

She had a special interest in helping the fundraiser.

"I had a cousin die at the age of 6 from brain stem and spinal cancer. So this means a lot to me," she said between shavings.

Kenny Simpson, Steve Lamb and Steve Evans of Vesuvius in Charleston were all smiles after their time in the chairs. Their commitment helped raise more than $800 from their co-workers at the plant and through a donation by the company.

"I didn't expect they would raise that much money for me," said Lamb, whose hair loss could be measured by poundage, compared to his lesser-locked co-workers.

There also were local firefighters and other high school students jumping into the chairs.

Cheerleaders helped with related fundraisers such as a bake sale.

But how does one convince another to shave their head?

"You tell them what it's going for, and then you tell them the children with cancer lose their hair without a choice," said Syndi Lanphier of the high school cheer squad.

That was some consolation for Heidi and Kerianna when their tresses started to hit the floor.

The girls were shedding some tears, but they realized their sacrifice was temporary, while those with cancer face much tougher challenges every day.

hmeeker@jg-tc.com|238-6869.