A hairstyle is an expression of oneself – how one styles their hair says a lot about them. One University of Central Florida student’s hair, though, says more than meets the eye, his hair says selflessness.

UCF Tau Kappa Epsilon Brother Nick Bettelli has been growing out his hair for a year-and-a-half for his fraternities’ philanthropy St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. What started off as a desire to be different and try something new morphed into an opportunity to raise money and awareness for an important cause. On Oct. 20 at TKE’s Joust for St. Jude event, Bettelli’s donators will be given clippers, a razor and free rein to cut his luscious locks, all for the kids.

The moment that changed Bettelli’s hair from a statement of individuality into a charitable cause was a visit to the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital. During the visit, Bettelli realized just how important raising money for charities is and how big an impact the money makes.

“Going to Arnold Palmer was a huge step. Sometimes you just raise the money and you don’t know why you raised it. When you don’t know why you’re doing something you don’t do something 110 percent you just don’t! When you go experience things, you want to change things. I feel that hospital visit changed everything for me,” said Bettelli.

From then on, Bettelli vowed to let his hair grow and make an impact in the lives of others. This desire to make a difference was a stark contrast from how Bettelli viewed his fraternities’ philanthropy the year before; he went from being just another member to raising the second highest amount of money in his fraternity.

“Nick Bettelli is second only to me in money raised for the event,” TKE Philanthropy Director Luke Crawford said.

Crawford went on to say how much of an impact Bettelli’s selflessness and devotion to St Jude has influenced the rest of the fraternity.

“It’s getting a lot of people really amped, more brothers are donating, and excited to raise money for the kids.”

As a result of Bettelli’s determination towards St Jude, TKE at UCF is gearing up to have its most successful Joust for St. Jude’s ever, and Bettelli feels he has a lot to do with that.

“I feel I impacted this philanthropy positively by going out of my comfort zone and empowered others to do the same. It shows how much my brothers and I care about St. Jude and the community as a whole,” Bettelli said.

The money raised by Bettelli and his brothers will be donated to St Jude. St Jude is an organization who’s mission is “to advance cures and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and prevention.”

If you would like to donate to Bettelli, and have the opportunity to cut off his curly locks click his donor drive here

(http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?px=3675975&fr_id=62622&pg=personal)

If you would like to attend Joust for St Jude, it will be taking place Thursday, Oct. 20 at Lake Claire from 12-4 p.m. There will be a giant inflatable jousting station, carnival games, food, a petting zoo and much more. There is no fee to participate but donations are appreciated.