“Pink Hair Movement” Cancer Awareness Campaign Honors Beloved Coach

Pink hair has been the latest trend across the Ocean City School District, but not just as a fashionable style.

Instead, the pink hair extensions are to raise breast cancer awareness and funds for the Cancer Support Community New Jersey (CSC NJ) in honor of Mikenzie Helphenstine, a beloved teacher and coach of various sports, who passed away from breast cancer two years ago. 

“I’m just so happy that my daughter, although she is not here physically, still has such an impact today,” said Jane Custer, Helphenstine’s mother. “It doesn’t surprise me. If you knew the person she was, she was a force to be reckoned with.” 

Helphenstine was known for her grit, courage, determination, and motto “Til You Can’t.”

She had a long, courageous battle with breast cancer, and began the pink hair fundraiser within the Ocean City High School field hockey team as coach over 15 years ago. Raised money went to CSC NJ, formerly named Gilda’s Club, a nonprofit that provides free social and emotional support for people affected by cancer in any capacity.

A check with this year’s pink hair fundraiser total will be presented to CSC NJ at the Ocean City vs. Atlantic City field hockey game on Monday, Oct. 21. The game is scheduled to start at 3:45 p.m. at Ocean City High School’s Carey Stadium. The check presentation ceremony will be at halftime. Everybody is encouraged to attend, and pink attire is required.  

“I think people want to be involved in something bigger than themselves, and I honestly think this accomplishes that,” Custer said of the fundraising campaign. “The people that this fundraiser touches, reaches so far. We’ll never know who it is, and that’s okay.”

    Jordyn Levchuk, the 10-year-old daughter of City Councilman Jody Levchuk, shows off her strand of pink hair that was dyed at the Ocean City Intermediate School for the "Pink Hair Movement" cancer awareness campaign.
  

Four years ago, a few of Helphenstine’s close friends decided to bring back the Pink Hair Movement to honor her courage and dedication to being an exceptional teacher and coach, all while battling cancer.  

“She was coaching them while she was sick and going through chemo, fighting, not complaining, teaching and coaching as if nothing was wrong,” said Jen Dwyer, a dear friend of Helphenstine and a leading force in organizing pink hair fundraisers. “She was tough as nails. We asked Mikenzie about doing the pink hair, and she said she’d love it if it was a fundraiser for Gilda’s Club.”  

Helphenstine’s friends, family, athletes she coached, the Ocean City High School Key Club, and other volunteers set up tables at lunch periods, sports games and other school events where they sell and install pink hair extensions for $10.

Many students also choose to dye their hair pink and donate, and the trend has also prompted many donations without physical participation. 

Dwyer said that after the first two seasons of the field hockey team fundraising through pink hair extensions, other teams and students across the school district started to catch on, and the fundraising numbers exponentially increased.  

Custer said during the first two years, the OCHS field hockey team would raise hundreds of dollars for the organization. When she heard last year’s donation was for over $5,000, she was overwhelmed.  

“It’s just unbelievable, the outpouring of support,” Custer said. “The first year when they brought back the pink hair they made maybe $500, and last year they made over $5,000.” 

Dwyer said this year, they have already surpassed last year’s total fundraising amount. 

    The Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of OCNJ walk on Oct. 13 was another fundraising event in Ocean City to promote cancer awareness.
  

Custer said Helphenstine felt strongly about the raised money going to CSC NJ, a nonprofit that provides psychiatric, social and emotional support for people affected by cancer in any way, totally free of charge.

The organization offers in-person educational programming and activities that promote a healthy lifestyle, like yoga, meditation and Tai Chi at their location at 700 New Road in Linwood. CSC NJ also has virtual support for people all across New Jersey. 

Erin McAllister, program director of CSC NJ, said the goal of the fundraiser is to raise enough money to get the nonprofit back in Ocean City schools, where they had a physical presence prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but have since lost that funding. 

“We’re asking the Ocean City community to help support this because in the end, we're going to be providing that service back in the schools, even the primary school,” McAllister said. 

She noted that CSC NJ did six events at the schools last year, and this year they have at least 38 on the schedule. 

“We know that the potential is there, and it’s something we want to get back to,” McAllister said. “Going to the students rather than expecting them to come here is always easier.”

    Erin McAllister, of the Cancer Support Community of New Jersey, speaks to City Council on Oct. 10 about the "Pink Hair Movement" fundraising campaign.