#GoGold

February 1, 2023  by

Ellie’s Hats – Our February Community Outreach Partner

We just love the mission and community of Ellie’s Hats, a local non-profit that was started with the mission to brighten the day of children with cancer.
Ellie's Hats

Ellie’s Hats was founded as a 501 (c)(3) in 2014 after Ellie started kindergarten at the Woodburn Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia. Ellie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in spring 2013. By the time she entered kindergarten she had lost most of her hair and was always wearing hats to school. Her teacher, Jay Coakley noticed her fun and cheerful looking hats and he organized a hat drive to provide her with a broader selection of hats to wear. Please check out their website for other ideas on how you can help in addition to donating and share this story to spread the word! We are honored to be donating $1 from every haircut this September to this amazing local non-profit!

Since 2014, Ellie’s Hats has donated over $400,000 to families and local clinics. That’s just incredible!

This February, we are donating $1 from every haircut we do at Salon Khouri to this amazing and dedicated local non-profit.

 

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March 5, 2022  by

FOHA Saving Fury Lives Since 1973 – Our March Community Outreach Partner

Each year, roughly 3 million cats and dogs in the US are euthanized without cause due to an overflow in shelters and a lack in adoptive homes. This March, Salon Khouri is partnering with FOHA (Friends of Homeless Animals), donating $1 from each haircut to this amazing, local non-profit. 

FOHA strives to bring an end to the unnecessary killing of companion animals, to provide a safe shelter for abused and abandoned animals, and to find a permanent, loving home for them. FOHA makes a lifetime commitment to each and every animal they bring into their organization. If at any point after an adoption, the adopter can no longer care for their animal, FOHA will welcome them back into their care and continue to search for a new home. They dedicate themselves to each and every animal, including those harder-to-adopt, and will make sure that they dwell comfortably in an individual space. 

Since 1973, FOHA has saved and placed in permanent homes more than 16,000 cats and dogs that would have otherwise been abandoned or killed. This success is the legacy of Anne Lewis. In the late 1960s, Anne was involved in an animal rescue – when another animal-related organization trapped a feral mother dog and puppies on the family’s property. Although she tried her best to save the animals, they were euthanized by the animal organization who had trapped them. Anne was unaware of the plight of homeless animals prior to this tragedy. So she decided to join a series of rescue organizations to prevent this from reoccurring. But she was unsuccessful in finding an organization that was faithful to a no-kill policy. So Anne founded her own organization, Friends of Homeless Animals, in 1973, and dedicated the remaining 32 years of her life to rescuing and caring for these innocent animals. So join us and FOHA this March to make a difference in our community, and to save countless lives of homeless cats and dogs. 

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January 29, 2022  by

Ellie’s Hats – Our February Community Outreach Partner

We just love the mission and community of Ellie’s Hats, a local non-profit that was started with the mission to brighten the day of children with cancer.
Ellie's Hats

Ellie’s Hats was founded as a 501 (c)(3) in 2014 after Ellie started kindergarten at the Woodburn Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia. Ellie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in spring 2013. By the time she entered kindergarten she had lost most of her hair and was always wearing hats to school. Her teacher, Jay Coakley noticed her fun and cheerful looking hats and he organized a hat drive to provide her with a broader selection of hats to wear. Please check out their website for other ideas on how you can help in addition to donating and share this story to spread the word! We are honored to be donating $1 from every haircut this September to this amazing local non-profit!

Since 2014, Ellie’s Hats has donated over $200,000 to families and local clinics. That’s just incredible!

This February, we are donating $1 from every haircut we do at Salon Khouri to this amazing and dedicated local non-profit.

 

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September 1, 2021  by

Ellie’s Hats – Our September Community Outreach Partner

Just last September we reported on Ellie’s Hats’ amazing milestone of a total donation package of $100,000 through a partnership with Pediatric Specialists of Virginia (PSV) to donate $1,000 a month to five local families in need of financial support. Well, they didn’t stop there! As of June 16, 2021, the group reported delivering 160 $1,000 checks to local families working through PSV Clinic and Scharr Cancer Institute Social Workers. Ellie's Hats

Also by mid-June 2021, the group reported having sent more than 1,900 packages to children across the country. Ellie’s Hats packages are large canvas totes containing a hat for the cancer patient and his or her siblings, a T-shirt and other items to help and support patients and their families. Ellie’s Hats also provides Hero Bags to Inova Children’s Hospital for new admitted pediatric cancer patients. The Hero Bag contains items helpful for a family who has a child admitted to the hospital.

Friday September 17, 2021 the annual Ellie’s Hats Open will take place at South Riding Golf Course from 7:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and the event includes breakfast and lunch. Registration is now closed, but be sure to keep up with Ellie’s Hats other great events posted on their website!

Ellie’s Hats was founded as a 501 (c)(3) in 2014 after Ellie started kindergarten at the Woodburn Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia. Ellie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in spring 2013. By the time she entered kindergarten she had lost most of her hair and was always wearing hats to school. Her teacher, Jay Coakley noticed her fun and cheerful looking hats and he organized a hat drive to provide her with a broader selection of hats to wear. Please check out their website for other ideas on how you can help in addition to donating and share this story to spread the word! We are honored to be donating $1 from every haircut this September to this amazing local non-profit!

 

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December 1, 2019  by

Remembering Mathias Through our December Community Outreach Partner: Team Mathias

Mathias’ smile could make all your worries go away. His drive to help others, even when he himself was battling osteosarcoma, was truly inspiring. He wanted everyone to know that kids get cancer, and he wanted to do something to change not only the lack of awareness, but to change the landscape of funding in the childhood cancer field. Mathias’ epic compassion lives on through the work being done by Team Mathias, the non-profit founded by Mathias’ parents, Roya and Chris Giordano.

December 7th, 2019 marks five heartbreaking years since cancer stole Mathias Giordano from his family and friends. We are honored to remember Mathias through selecting Team Mathias as our December Community Outreach Partner. We are donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Loudoun locations this month to this local, non-profit who is making a difference in the lives of children battling cancer. We will promise to do random acts of kindness in Mathias’ name and would love for you to join in using the hashtags #PayItForward and #MathiasStrong.

The work being done through Team Mathias is bringing hope, comfort and blessing to others. Through providing meals to pediatric nursing units, hosting blood drives, providing care packages to pediatric cancer patients and their families (Mathias’ idea, by the way), to being the driving force behind the Virginia Cure Childhood Cancer license plate (also Mathias’ idea!), we are humbled by the constant service this non-profit is providing to our community.

We urge you to please learn more about the facts of childhood cancer. Then we urge you to do something. There are some amazing ideas on the Team Mathias site, on their Take Action page. Register with Be the Match, donate blood, sponsor a Team Mathias Care package, volunteer at an event, share facts on your Facebook page.

 

 

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October 1, 2019  by

Hearts of Gold: Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation – our October Community Outreach Partner

This is our fourth year that we have selected Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation as a Salon Khouri community outreach partner and it’s because we love their mission so much! Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation is a 501c3 whose mission is to raise awareness and funding for Childhood Cancer Research while providing Christian focused support to the Childhood Cancer Community.

A majority of their funds go directly towards funding childhood cancer research initiatives through world class organizations such as the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). Because childhood cancer remains the #1 cause of death by disease for children in our country and because childhood cancer research currently receives less than 4% of the total national cancer research budget, they remain committed and passionate about doing their part to help find cures! The goal of AACCF is to help support new research through providing whatever funding they can in order to help make a difference in treatment options available to children fighting childhood cancers.

Here’s the impact AACCF had in just 2018 alone:

  • $100,000 Research Grant to Children’s National to help fund the REST Immunotherapy Trial (more).
  • 260 Care Packages delivered to children at Fairfax Inova Children’s Hospital and to families and children in 14 different states
  • 12 Prayer Team visits which included bringing gifts, breakfast, coffee, and lots of LOVE to the families at Inova Children’s Hospital. In 2018, they incorporated a few themed visits including an EMOJI party and one time bringing Rapunzel with them!
  • 70 Prayer Pillowcases sent out to children and families
  • 60 Super Hero Dolls made lovingly by their friend Kristi Catlett at GoldRibbonCrochet
  • 100 parent toiletry kits delivered to Fairfax Children’s Hospital to be kept on the unit and distributed as needed to parents unexpectedly staying overnight
  • Additionally, they embarked on a few new things this year:
    • They sent families to Minefaire and gifted them with tickets for the whole family!
    • They created Forever in our Hearts Kites and mailed them to 18 different families.
    • They also helped provide meals to 4 different families locally in 2018.

And, on November 16th, 2019, they will be hosting the Hearts of Gold Gala to celebrate Five years of giving back to our local community. You may register for the gala here.

This October, we are donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Dulles locations to Alex’s Army Childhood Cancer Foundation and we know that every single penny will bring blessings to those in our local community battling childhood cancer.

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September 1, 2019  by

Our Community Outreach Partner for September: The Truth 365

Over 15,000 kids will be diagnosed with cancer in the next 365 days.

The goal of The Truth 365 is to educate and mobilize millions of people through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social networking sites. Their full-length documentaries and shorter films inform the public that there is a critical need for funding for childhood cancer research. Through increased awareness comes increased funding. You see, children *should be* our nations’ priority. Yet, the shocking lack of funding for childhood cancers indicates otherwise. Over the past years, we have shared a statistic that we thought would surely have changed by now. Sadly, we are reporting the same this year: the National Cancer Institute allocates only 4% of it’s cancer research budget toward childhood cancers. And 4% is simply not enough. Drug companies aren’t allocating research dollars either, as there are 16 major types of pediatric cancers and over 100 subtypes – all of which need to be approached differently. Much of the funding for new therapies are left to be raised by the parents, which is a burden they should not have to bear. Yet, they do, faced with no other options for helping their children. They bike, run, shave their heads, participate in ultra marathons — just about anything they can do — they will to raise money to give to advance research.

We would love for you to spread the word about CureFest, an amazing and FREE, family-friendly childhood cancer event in Washington DC! This year, CureFest will be September 20-22nd with singer Chris Daughtry performing. Be sure to register for this FREE event.

We are donating $1 from every haircut from both locations this September to The Truth 365. We hope and pray that we will see an end to childhood cancers in our lifetime and awareness is the KEY to funding, which will be a KEY to a cure!

 

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February 20, 2019  by

We love what Ellie’s Hats is doing for children battling cancer — our February community outreach partner

In the spring of 2013 a little girl named Ellie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. By the time she started kindergarten in the fall, she had lost most of her hair and was wearing hats to school every day. Ellie’s Hats was born after one of her teachers, Jay Coakley, noticed how much cheer and individuality the hats brought to Ellie. He wanted to share that feeling with other children who suffered from childhood cancer and to also raise awareness.

Ellie’s Hats mission is to brighten the day of a child who is battling cancer. They do this by sending a package of hats and other items for the child battling cancer and their siblings. They include hats for the siblings too because often they feel left out. They have sent over 1,300 special packages to children across the country. For families in Northern Virginia, which is where they are located, they are able to do more than send them hats. They provide financial support and do whatever they can do to make these kids’ days a little brighter.

Ellie’s Hats is a 100% volunteer run non profit.

Here are a few other things Ellie’s Hats has done for kids battling cancer: #morethanjustahat

  • Donated $1,000’s worth of gift cards and checks
  • The “Hero Bag” Program at Inova Children’s Hospital. (A special bag is given to every newly admitted pediatric cancer patient)
  • Supply the food and drinks for the nourishment room and the PSV Clinic in Falls Church
  • Donated $10,000 to The Pediatric Oncology Family Support Fund in 2016
  • Donated $10,000 to Novant Hemby Children’s Hospital in 2016 to help them remodel their treatment room.
  • Gave three $1,000 Gift Certificates from a local auto repair shop to local families.
  • Helped a teenager go to a Wizards game and get to meet Steph Curry.
  • Had Kirk Cousins record a special video to a high school senior who was recently diagnosed with cancer.
  • Donated ipads, VR goggles, Play Stations, Nintendo Switches, Robots from Double Robitics.

It’s an honor to once again support Ellie’s Hats this February as our community outreach partner. We will donate $1 from every haircut this February from our Fairfax and Dulles locations to this very special, local non-profit.

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December 7, 2018  by

Paying it Forward in Memory of Mathias: Our December Community Outreach Partner

Mathias Giordano

This December marks four years since cancer stole Mathias Giordano from his family and friends. We are honored to remember Mathias through selecting the non-profit created in his name, Team Mathias, as our December Community Outreach Partner. We are donating $1 from every haircut from our Fairfax and Loudoun locations this month to this local, non-profit who is making a difference in the lives of children battling cancer. We will promise to do random acts of kindness in Mathias’ name and would love for you to join in using the hashtags #PayItForward and #MathiasStrong.

The heartbreaking yet beautiful words from Mathias’ mom, Roya, are shared below:

“4 years ago today our world changed forever.

I now realize that the hardest part of losing you, wasn’t to say goodbye but to learn to live without your beautiful smile, your hugs, your sense of humor, your love for life, your care for friends and family, your passion for food and your sophisticated taste for beautiful & contemporary things in life.

The emptiness that your dad, Troy & I feel in our hearts and in our home not just today but EVERYDAY is killing us. There is truly no greater heartache than having to live our lives without you! I was convinced that my heart would stop beating when yours did. 4 years later I’m still wondering how am I still breathing? If the broken heart syndrome is as real as they say it is why hasn’t it made my broken heart stop!

Being your mom has and will always be my biggest accomplishment in life. Your strength, determination and your love for life will always guide me to be a better person & my one and only mission in life is to protect your name and your legacy and to make you proud. I want you to keep smiling down on us in knowing that we are making a small difference each and everyday in the lives of those effected by cancer in your LOVING Memory.

We are blessed to have a lot of loving, caring & supportive friends and family who still remember and honor you daily.

Friends please #PayItForward in Mathias’ memory today. Go out of your way to make someone smile today because of Mathias. Make a donation to your favorite childhood cancer charity, Donate blood or platelets, do something small or big just to remember my sweet, beautiful, handsome boy. My soulmate, my Mathias.”

 

We urge you to please learn more about the facts of childhood cancer. Then we urge you to do something. There are some amazing ideas on the Team Mathias site, on their Take Action page. Register with Be the Match, donate blood, sponsor a Team Mathias Care package, volunteer at an event, share facts on your Facebook page.

 

 

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September 1, 2018  by

Our Community Outreach Partner for September: The Truth 365

Over 15,000 kids will be diagnosed with cancer in the next 365 days. Cancer kills more than 2,500 children in our country every year.

The goal of The Truth 365 is to educate and mobilize millions of people through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social networking sites. Their full-length documentaries and shorter films inform the public that there is a critical need for funding for childhood cancer research. Through increased awareness comes increased funding. You see, children *should be* our nations’ priority. Yet, the shocking lack of funding for childhood cancers indicates otherwise. We are sad to again be including this fact in our blog: the National Cancer Institute allocates only 4% of it’s cancer research budget toward childhood cancers. And 4% is simply not enough. Drug companies aren’t allocating research dollars either, as there are 16 major types of pediatric cancers and over 100 subtypes – all of which need to be approached differently. Much of the funding for new therapies are left to be raised by the parents, which is a burden they should not have to bear. Yet, they do, faced with no other options for helping their children. They bike, run, shave their heads, participate in ultra marathons — just about anything they can do — they will to raise money to give to advance research.

We would love for you to spread the word about CureFest, an amazing and FREE childhood cancer event in Washington DC! This year, CureFest will be September 15th and 16th, with the 1.8 mile walk on Sunday.

We are donating $1 from every haircut from both locations this September to The Truth 365. You also have an opportunity to help by donating at our front desk where you can fill out a Childhood Cancer Awareness Square to hang in our window to help us #GoGold this September! To read more about the shocking facts of childhood cancer, please read our blog post from last year.

childhoodcancersquare

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