It's a wonderful life

'They want to see a miracle.'

MOSES LAKE — George Bailey has nothing over Larry Brice.

Bailey found he had a wonderful life when the community came to his rescue in the film "It's a Wonderful Life." Brice knows how wonderful his life is as the Moses Lake community rallies to help him battle stage four cancer.

If the community raises $20,000 in three weeks for Brice, JoAnne Selmann is getting her long locks of hair shaved off. It is part of an outpouring of community support for Brice and his family.

Brice, 51, is a chaplain at the Moses Lake Police Department and Associate Pastor at Grace Harvest Church in Moses Lake. Additionally, Brice serves as board chair of Crossroads Resource Center.

Brice said cards and money continue to show up on his desk since he was diagnosed with cancer in his liver and large intestine in November. He said he is so thankful, he does not know how to express his gratitude. He does not know what to think about all the support.

"Part of it is people are pooling for my life," Brice said. "They want to see a miracle. They want to see me make it."

Two fund-raisers are going on for Brice that happen to revolve around hair.

Tomlinson Black Realtor JoAnne Selmann is offering her head of long hair for the price of $20,000. Selmann's daughter attends the daycare at Grace Harvest.

"I wanted to make an attainable goal," Selmann said. She said she has no doubt the full amount is going to be raised. Donations can be brought to Tomlinson Black in the form of a check. Brice's family is going to receive the funds as they come in.

"I'm really excited about the fund-raiser, and I'm really excited about showing the kind of support that I believe people should show," she said.

Another Tomlinson Black Realtor already shaved his hair for donations to Brice at the company's holiday party on Saturday. Employees raised about $2,100 in five minutes to see Dave Dinges' hair shaved off, said Tomlinson Black Co-owner Mark Fancher.

Although he didn't plan to do so, Dinges shaved his hair right on the spot at the party.

The amount of money raised was phenomenal, he said.

"I'm very happy about it," he said.

Although he had a crew cut when he was four or five years old, this is the first time he can remember having his hair entirely shaved.

"The cold doesn't bother me at all," he said.

At Jujube'z the Salon Inc. in Moses Lake, owner Julie Johnson and manager Shari Milbrandt helped raise $4,000 in one day by cutting hair for donations.

Milbrandt estimated about 150 people received haircuts in 12 hours. Donations continue to come in for Brice, and people can call and make appointments for the price of their haircut or coloring to benefit Brice.

"It was exciting. We were really just floored," Milbrandt said.

She said it was amazing to see how many people Brice impacted without his knowledge.

Brice wanted to tell the community how grateful he is for all the support. He said his mother and father wanted to express their gratitude as well.