Narrandera teenager Cleo McLaughlin has raised well over $3000 for mental health and is wearing a mullet for a week to raise awareness.
A Year 10 student at Yanco Agricultural High School, Cleo is wearing the mullet to fund raise for Mullets for Mental Health through the Black Dog Institute.
She will be shaving it all off for CanAssist at Yanco Ag on Saturday, October 31.
Within three days of launching her fundraising pages, the 16-year-old raised $1206 for Mullets for Mental Health and $1515 for CanAssist.
She started with a target of $1000 for each cause and has surpassed both of these, then raised the bar to $1500 – and has surpassed that again with the cancer cause.
Cleo’s mother Fran McLaughlin said the causes were close to Cleo’s heart.
“Cleo has always been a compassionate and courteous person, despite always being on the outer, being bullied for being different,” she said.
“Cleo has always stood up for the underdog and people who can’t defend themselves. The above contribution continues her desire to make a difference in this world.”
In Grade 6 at St Joseph’s Primary school Leeton, she and a couple of friends created a room to be used at lunchtime, a safe place where any child could go if they were feeling alone, being bullied or felt out of place.
Cleore-ceived the principal’s award that year for contribution to the school, her maturity and sense of responsibility towards others, her compassion and empathy and enormous integrity and strong personal values and her ability to ‘not go along with the crowd’.
To donate to Cleo’s causes, go to www.teamblackdog.org.au/fundraisers/cleomclaughlin/mulletsformentalhealth and give.everydayhero.com/au/cleo-s-shave
