Barber Al Middelton stands ready to give Joe Pouncey a Mohawk style hair cut should he be successful in raising $2,000 for this year's Relay for Life. Pouncey said he needs all the support he can get to meet his goal.

Photo by Derek Brown

Joe Pouncey is serious about Relay for Life and he is not splitting hairs about it.

Pouncey has set a goal of $2,000 to raise for this year's annual signature fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, and says that if he is successful he will shave his head Mohawk style.

"There is this girl in my office who raised $1,000 last year and told me how hard it was," he said. "I told her I could raise twice that much."

Pouncey said he has been doing what he can to get the word out through e-mail, letters and word of mouth, and has even developed a wanted poster to hand out all over town to notify everyone of his intentions, but he said he still needs a lot of help before the hair clippings start flying.

"I can't wait to get my haircut," he said. "Al said he has never given a $2,000 haircut." Pouncey's barber, Al Middelton, will be doing the honors should Pouncey prove successful in his fund raising efforts.

"My high school reunion will be in town around the same time," he said. "I am going to spend some time getting donations from them." Pouncey said he graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery in 1956. A number of his classmates, he said, have been lost to cancer since that time.

The idea for the Mohawk haircut came from his team's name. The theme for this year's relay is movies, and as the team from First Presbyterian tossed ideas around someone mentioned "The Last of the Mohicans." The rest, Pouncey says, is history.

This is the first year Pouncey has been involved with Relay for Life, and he says he is committed to helping advance the fight for a cure.

"I have a daughter who is a nurse specializing in oncology and she has told me about the advances made in cancer treatments recently," he said. "That all comes from research which is what Relay for Life is all about."

Pouncey said he is also personally motivated by the fact that many of his family and friends have either had to face, or have lost, a battle with cancer.

Although he knows raising $2,000 will be difficult, he says he is committed to following through with his promise.

"You've got to have faith with something like this," he said. "I am willing to put my hair on the line voluntarily to hopefully keep someone else from losing it involutarily from chemotherapy."