Brodie Humphrey had her head shaved on Wednesday in honour of her friend Stacey Riches who donated her own hair before beginning chemotherapy.

Brodie has watched Stacey battle a rare gene mutation that leads to leukaemia and wanted to do something to help her and others with similar conditions.

On Wednesday, Camperdown's Mercy Regional College community banded together to help the girls, who both attend the school, raise more than $4000 for the foundation.

Even some of the male teachers and students bravely allowed classmates, who purchased wax strips, to wax their legs for the cause. 

Brodie, 17, whose hair extended midway down her back, said the response had been awesome. 

She said she and Stacey were surprised at how much money they raised, originally hoping for between $1000 and $1500.

"We definitely smashed that," Brodie said. "Everyone at school's been super awesome and donated money. It's been pretty cool."

Brodie's hair was separated into plaits which Stacey cut off and then shaved, as her teachers and classmates watched on.

"They were pretty amazed and surprised, but very encouraging as well," Brodie said. 

"It's a pretty weird feeling. It's pretty cool to have really short hair."

Warrnambool hairdresser Sue Cassidy was also on hand to help shave Brodie's head.

Brodie said a fleece-lined beanie that Stacey gave her would help keep her head warm as the cooler months approached and her hair grew back. 

"She (Stacey) thought it looked pretty good and she was really thankful (for the fundraiser) as well."

Brodie said the experience had made her realise how she can make a difference to others. 

"It's given me a bit of an outlook about what other people go through and how I can help people," Brodie said. 

Stacey, who helped Brodie organise the fundraiser, said her friend's new look suited her. 

"She looks amazing," Stacey said. "She rocks it, it looks so good. I love it."

Stacey said one of the biggest surprises on the day was the number of students who snapped up wax strips to use on their fellow students and teachers. "We didn't expect that to go as well as it did. We thought 80 (wax strips) would be heaps but they were pretty much gone in the first 10 minutes.

"Whoever bought the wax strips got to wax them so that was a bit of fun." 

Stacey said she was grateful, thanking the school and wider community for its support and Ms Cassidy for helping with the shave.

"Brodie's been amazing over the last 12 months and just having her do this (fundraiser) as well has been the cherry on top for it all," Stacey said.

She said the pair watched the fundraising tally grow once the appeal was launched and they couldn't believe the response. 

"We could see online how much was being donated and I'm pretty sure we hit $1000 in the first 24 hours so that was amazing," Stacey said. "We were all really shocked it had taken off like that. It was unexpected but we're very grateful everybody got behind it."

Stacey said her blood count had improved and her health was currently good. 

"It's on the rise," Stacey said. "I'm happy to be back at school. It's been a while coming but it's onwards and upwards at the moment. It's taken a while but my immune system is starting to come back in now which is nice."  

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