People dyeing to raise awareness

There will be seven additional redheads in Airdrie next month when participants of Colour Me Red dye their hair.

“We’re really excited,” said Jennifer Ruklic, co-founder of Carter’s Quest For a Cure, an Airdrie-based charity that raises awareness and money to find a cure for hemophilia, an inherited disorder in which one of the proteins needed to form blood clots is missing or reduced.

Ruklic started the organization after her son, now four, was diagnosed with Hemophilia A in 2008.

She has hosted other fundraising events in the past, including Mall in the Hall, an annual charity market at the Airdrie Legion.

This will be the first time the charity is hosting the Colour Me Red event and Ruklic hopes to raise $10,000.

“We are trying to mark an event with World Hemophilia Day (WHD),” she explained.

WHD is on April 17 but in Airdrie, seven participants will dye their hair red on April 20 at the Hair Lounge.

The participants include Airdrie MLA Rob Anderson; Mayor Peter Brown; Ruklic; Christine Fawcett-Marion, Carter’s aunt and community volunteer; Melinda Gross, a member of the Rocky View Roller Derby Association; Shawnee Hoffman, founder of the Airdrie Zombie Cup and Nikii Lee Walding, an Airdrie youth.

“I got involved because I think Carter is an awesome young guy,” said Brown, who added he has met with Ruklic and her son on several different occasions.

“They are tremendous people and, like a lot of people in Airdrie, they have turned a tough situation into something positive,” he said.

Hoffman, the founder of Zombie Cup, said she has never dyed her hair red before and it’s a great way to not only gain pledges from people but also start the conversation about the charity.

Anyone interested in donating money can do so by visiting www.cartersquest.com