A 71-year-old avid golfer has shaved off his ponytail to raise money for cancer, but his efforts are only the beginning.
Allan Adler spends most of his week at the Meadowbrook Golf Club.
He plays golf for two days and works there as a groundskeeper for three.
Three weeks ago, he let people at the club know he would be shaving his head for CancerCare, an organisation providing education, support and financial assistance to those affected by cancer.
Mr Adler didn’t anticipate many donations, as he’d done it before and only raised $700.
“But when I reached 1000 dollars, I thought, ‘bugger it, I’ll go for two grand’,” he said.
He ended up raising over $2000.
Although proud of the achievement, Mr Adler isn’t satisfied.
“I’ll go for more next year – four or five grand,” he said.
Mr Adler was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and said the cause was close to home.
“There are three members [at the golf club] who have cancer and I’ve lost a few people myself to the disease,” he said.
“We’ve got to do something about it.”
Mr Adler knew cutting his ponytail off wasn’t enough, so he decided to dye it jet black to get more attention from the folks at the club.
“You’re raising for a serious thing, but you’ve got to have fun while you’re doing it,” he said.
Mr Adler wants more people to join in next year and hopes the golf club will get involved as well.
“I want the ladies to get involved and colour their hair or do something,” he said.
“I’m hoping to get the club involved to make it bigger next year.”
Mr Adler said doing good for the community was important to him, largely because of his wife, Sharon.
“My wife raises money every year… she’s been doing it for forever,” he said.
“She got a medal from John Howard for volunteer work.”
Unfortunately, Mrs Adler suffers from sarcoidosis, a condition that can cause long-lasting organ damage.
“She’s pretty ill,” Mr Adler said.
“She’s not doing too well, but that doesn’t stop her.”
Mr Adler will be participating in Movember this year, and will be donating the money he raises to prostate cancer research.
