Meet four Bluey Day 2026 participants, including 13-year-old Dexter and 15-month-old Bruce

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The community of Fort St. John is gearing up to have their hair shaved for the upcoming Bluey Day 2026. 

This year, Bluey Day has been scheduled for May 23rd at Centennial Park on 100th Street. 

With registrations open for Bluey Day 2026, the region’s “most meaningful tradition” has the community getting ready to shave their heads to support local cancer diagnosis and treatment. 

All the funds raised during Bluey Day will go towards the cancer diagnostic and treatment fund of the Fort St. John Hospital Foundation. 

Ahead of the event, four Bluey Day participants spoke to Energeticcity.ca about what this event means to them. 

Alisha Prosser  

Prosser participated in Bluey Day for the first time in 2024 and this year, she hopes to raise $500. 

When asked what motivated her to participate, she said: “It’s a wonderful cause and a lot of it has to do with my daughter…and [teaching] her to be confident.

“Because that’s one thing I’ve royally struggled with and ever since I did Bluey Day the first time, it just made me feel powerful and I gained my confidence back.” 

Prosser wants to donate her hair to help people with cancer feel empowered. 

“A friend of mine…had gotten cancer and not long after I did Bluey Day for the first time,” she said. “I used to be terrified to shave my head because…I got bullied. So when I decided to do Bluey Day the first time, it just kind of gave me that confidence.” 

Ahead of Bluey Day, for people suffering from cancer, she said: “No matter how you look, confidence comes [from] within, stay strong and I just want to empower other women.” 

Kelly Fell 

Fell has been a part of Bluey Day since 2009 and, according to a Facebook post, she has raised more than $105,000. 

She said: “We had a loss in our family in 2008, so in 2009 I shaved in memory of that family member, then I took a year off, [and after that] I’ve been shaving ever since.” 

Fell feels participating in Bluey Day is important for people needing access to cancer diagnosis and treatments. 

“I shave because there are people I love that have died…[and] because our community needs this,” she said.

“If I can raise a bit of money for people to stay home and get their treatment, without having to leave town, then it’s much better for them. 

“Shaving my head is the least I can do because people with cancer go through so much more with their treatments.”

This year, Fell hopes to raise $20,000 by selling 1,000 raffle tickets. 

She said: “This is my third year of putting together a raffle, all my prizes have been donated locally or from people that have lived in Fort St. John.” 

Fell said one of her prizes is a pair of blue sapphire white gold stud earrings. 

“I have five different package prizes [ranging] from $400 to $2,000,” she added. 

Fell hopes many people will “get behind and support” the cause. 

She said: “It’s the people of Fort St. John and the surrounding communities that make me as strong as I am and that’s why I can help out people with cancer.” 

Dexter Wissman 

Dexter’s mother Leticia Wissman told Energeticcity.ca that Dexter, who is 13 years old, was influenced by his sister, Teagan, who was six years old when she did Bluey Day. 

“Just seeing the impact, he wanted to do it as well,” Leticia said. “So he made the commitment to start growing his hair because he wanted to also be able to donate a wig.” 

Leticia said Dexter has been growing his hair for three years. 

Dexter hopes to raise $2,000 in funds for the cause, but he would also like to beat the amount his sister raised, which was $2,800, Leticia said. 

She added: “He is very excited, he started doing bake sales at school and has raised over $200 so far.” 

Bruce Vaingankar 

Candice Fernandes, Bruce’s mother, told Energeticcity.ca this will be one year and three months old Bruce’s first haircut. 

She said: “We’ve had a lot of interaction with cancer patients and my uncle recently passed from liver cancer. 

“I feel if we could promote better equipment overall, to help detect these things in hospitals, it would help and I wanted his first haircut to be for a good cause.”

Although $500 has been pledged for baby Bruce, Candice said she hopes to collect more.

Candice shared that she had volunteered for Bluey Day last year and this year: “I just want to join in and help donate to it.” 

The foundation intends to find 50 participants to reach its goal of $100,000. 

More event details will be released at a later date. 

To register for Bluey Day, click here.