DETROIT – They are calling it Clipping for COVID-19. Three men, two of whom are roommates, have raised a lot of money for coronavirus relief efforts that will directly impact people in Metro Detroit.
It all started four days ago when the coworkers of Will McDowell, finance director at Detroit Labs, convinced him to shave his head.
“I was resistant to the idea until they started putting down money saying we’ll give this to charity if you shave your head,” said McDowell.
McDowell quickly got his roommate and a friend involved and set the donation goal to $10,000.
“They proposed the idea of you know shaving my head for a good cause and I said, ‘say no more I’m in,”’ said Florian Matena, McDowell’s friend.
McDowell’s roommate, Ankur Patel, also got involved.
The three reached out to their social circles to try and raise the money to donate to United Way of Southeastern Michigan because DTE Energy would be matching all donations.
To their surprise they woke up Monday morning to see they reached their goal, which meant it was time for a buzz.
“We might as well just shave mine right on camera,” said Patel.
Now with more than $10,000 to donate with the help of DTE the three will donate over $20,000 to United Way of Southeastern Michigan who gives back to local organizations in the city.
“It was these organizations that I already care a lot about like the downtown boxing gym and alternatives for girls, not just all the time but specifically with coronavirus relief efforts as well,” said McDowell.
McDowell and Matena still need to shave their head, but they’re looking to raise another $2,500 to make their final donation number a whopping $25,000.
“It really just has to do with how amazing the Detroit community is our families and our friends just our network,” said McDowell.
Click here to donate to the Facebook fundraiser.