An East Rochester seventh grader is shaving her head for a good cause.

Gabriella Lexer is participating in the “Goin’ Bald for Bucks” program to support the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Over the past several years, Gabriella has donated her brunette locks to the “Locks of Love” program three times and has coordinated/participated in fundraisers for autism research and various other causes.

The event is planned for February 15th.
 

The Wegmans Check Out Hunger and Care About Hunger campaigns raised $1.43-million. That’s a four-percent increase from the 2010 campaigns.

Wegmans Community Relations Manager Linda Lovejoy said, "We know that the demand placed on food banks has increased dramatically in recent years. We're thankful and humbled by these results. They show that our customers and employees have responded just as caring neighbors do, by giving generously to help their communities."

Both campaigns allowed shoppers to donate $1, $2, $3, or $5 (or any amount) at checkout to each store's local food bank. In Rochester, the money raised goes to Foodlink. This year, $674,277 was raised.

Hunger relief campaigns raised a total of $2.3 million at Wegmans in 2011. Since these programs began in 1993, the company has raised more than $18 million for hunger relief.

For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website www.whec.com.

A former Fairport student is coming back to share her story with other Fairport students.

Natascha Yogachandra was 12-years-old when she went to Asia to help the tsunami orphans. Now, she's 18-years-old and a sophomore at New York University.

But that's not all, Natascha co-founded a non-governmental organization called Hope is Life Foundation to help serve people in parts of Asia and Africa. She has worked to build schools in several countries such as Cambodia to Haiti, sponsored education to HIV/AIDS infected children in Vietnam to teenage girls rescued from brothels in Kolkata, India and provided micro loans to guardians looking after orphans in Sierra Leone in Africa.

On Thursday, Natascha will talk to students in Martha Brown School. She will be speaking to students to inspire them to volunteer and do more in their community. On Friday, Natascha will speak with students at Northside School.