Northwestel employees are once again raising money for cancer research by temporarily sacrificing their hair. Three employees have volunteered for the annual Northwestel Head Shave, taking place this Friday, April 15^th at 12 noon, at the Elijah Smith Building in Whitehorse. All donations go to support research funded by the Canadian Cancer Society.

The public is invited to attend the Head Shave to cheer on the three employees and to make donations before or at the event or online at http://cancerevents.kintera.org/northwestel. Northwestel will match all donations to a limit of $2500.00.

The Northwestel employees who volunteered for the Head Shave are Tekno Budi, Deb Enoch and Cynthia Friedrich. “We all feel this is a very worthwhile cause,” said event coordinator Cynthia Friedrich. “For some of us, it’s a very personal issue. Deb lost her mother to cancer last year and so this means a lot to her. A number of my close friends have been impacted by cancer and I’m motivated by the desire to try to prevent others from having to go through the same thing.”  

The owner of the Phoenix Hair Studio, Joseph Blackstock, has volunteered his time to assist at the event.

In 2010, Northwestel contributed more than $600,000 in cash and in-kind donations to many northern community groups. Throughout its history, Northwestel has played a key role in the economic, social and cultural development of the North. Northwestel is recognized as a key contributor to the well-being of northern communities through its community investment program and the volunteer contributions of its employees.

Northwestel provides complete telecommunications solutions and entertainment services in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, northern British Columbia and High Level, Alberta. The company’s operations span nearly 4 million square kilometres of the most remote and rugged areas of Canada.