Community in Cambridge comes together for hair stylist diagnosed with cancer

A salon and spa in Cambridge hosted a special event on Sunday to raise funds for a woman known for her beautiful soul.

Mimada Beauty: Luxury Salon and Spa and cold capping rental company Cold Crowns came together to host what they called a “Blow-a-thon” fundraiser in support of Paula Kemp, a hair stylist recently diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer and stage two lymphoid cancer.

“She used to work here before she opened her own salon downtown,” co-owner of Mimada, Sabrina said.

“We thought we would all come together and provide services for a minimum donation and everybody had been so generous, giving more than the minimum donation to raise money to help with expenses for her and her son while she’s going through treatments.”

Employees from other salons were at the fundraiser, helping in any way they could.

For Kemp’s friend and business partner Catarina Carreiro, the support was overwhelming.

“The community has really supported her in every way that she needs. Which I know has been a huge weight off her shoulders. We’re so thankful,” Carreiro told CTV News Sunday afternoon.

Carreiro said it was actually one of the owners of Mimada who suggested the idea of a Blow-a-thon after Carreiro started up an online fundraiser.

“I had started up a GoFundMe for Paula. With Paula being self-employed, living alone with her son, obviously she needed compensation for her needing to take so much time off for treatment. With stage three, she knew it needed to happen ASAP. There was no planning or anything,” she explained.

“We’ve been in several different salons and made really great connections and relationships with the group, with the girls in the industry. So above all else, I’m so happy to see us all come together and do what needs to be done to support [Paula] in this time.”

Carreiro said Kemp is managing to keep a positive outlook throughout her ordeal and is taking it day-by-day.

Scrunchies of support

Along with the salon and spa services, a special scrunchie was on sale to support Kemp.

“Paula’s a hairdresser so we’re like, ‘Why not make a scrunchie specifically for her?’” Cold Crowns co-founder P.A. Belore said. “Originally we had an orange one and then we ran out of fabric because they sold out within less than 24 hours. So then we made pink ones for this event specifically.”

“If Paula was a scrunchie, this would be her,” Cold Crowns co-founder Ashley Joyes laughed.

“It is retro, it is vibing, it is vibrant like her personality. This is Paula in a scrunchie.”

The special scrunchies were sold throughout the event, but Cold Crowns also sells scrunchies online. They call the initiative “The Scrunchie Fund.” All proceeds from scrunchie sales until the end of the day Sunday will be donated to Kemp. After that, the money is used to help charities and non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting cancer patients.