MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – A firehouse in Mount Clemens was busier than ever Thursday -- not because of how many calls they got, but because of how many people showed up.
A firefighter broke the department’s grooming policy and had to get a haircut in front of anyone who shower up, but it was all planned and was one of the few upsides to the pandemic.
It’s been a long 18 months of living through the COVID pandemic, but it’s felt even longer for frontline workers. Mount Clemens firefighter Josh Ringstad is different from other firefighters -- he wasn’t clean cut and shaven like his colleagues.
He said he went several months without a haircut so he could grow his hair for Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids, a nonprofit that takes donated hair and creates wigs for children who need them -- primarily pediatric cancer patients and burn victims.
Ringstad decided he wanted to help without thinking about the challenges longer hair can provide for firecrews -- it can trap heat and make putting gear on difficult without hair getting caught.
Ringstad had his hair cut and donated Thursday. Additionally, about $4,000 was raised to help children so they don’t have to pay for the wigs.
More information on Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids can be found on its official website here.