SALON GIVING HAIRCUTS FOR CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Whether it's time for a summer flat-top or just a trim, getting a haircut could help critically ill children. Stylists at a local salon will donate their skills today during a fund-raiser for St. Jude Hospital.

Cinderella Beauty Shop at 24324 Walnut St. will cut hair from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to raise money for the Memphis, Tenn., medical center founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas.

``We were going to charge $12 for a haircut because we figured that would be a pretty good donation,'' said Adams, who has been in business since 1967. ``Most people can part with $12 for charity.''

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital helps sick youngsters from around the country at no cost to their families, said Kay Tarpley of the hospital's fund-raising foundation.

Although Monday is traditionally a day off for cosmetologists to compensate for working Saturdays, salon owner Edna Adams said she and her four employees will be happy to open for business.

The hospital specializes in research and treatment of children with cancer, leukemia, AIDS, sickle cell anemia and other pediatric illnesses. Gene therapy and bone marrow transplants are other specialties.

Hollywood resident Bohdan Slobodian, a native of the Ukraine, is one such beneficiary of St. Jude's treatment made possible by the private donations of complete strangers.

In April 1989, Slobodian underwent two surgeries to treat Ewing sarcoma, a type of bone cancer. First, doctors removed the cancerous growth from his left leg and then replaced most of his left femur with a metal rod, he said.

Now 20 years old, the 6-foot-2-inch Slobodian returns to St. Jude's for annual checkups to monitor whether his childhood cancer has returned.

He undergoes X-rays, CAT scans and magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, of his left leg, all costly procedures, but all free to him under St. Jude policy.

``Every time I go in for a checkup, it comes out to about $3,000,'' Slobodian estimated. ``If the hospital wouldn't have paid, my family (and I) would probably have to work the rest of our lives to pay all the bills,'' he said.

Tarpley said that most children are treated at St. Jude as outpatients, with the hospital picking up the tab for round-trip transportation as well as the medical procedure. Often, doctors close to home can carry on the treatment in cooperation with St. Jude physicians once the child is discharged from the hospital.

``People seem to heal better at home, in familiar surroundings,'' said Tarpley, of the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, which Thomas established in 1951 to raise money to build the medical center. He called upon those of his own Lebanese-Syrian descent to honor the saint, their ancestors and America for the opportunities they had realized.

Hospital lore has it that, as a struggling young man, Thomas asked St. Jude - patron saint of hopeless causes - for help finding work and supporting his growing family. In return, Thomas promised a grand gesture of thanks.

In 1962, Thomas made good on his pledge with the opening of St. Jude's. ``We never charge a bill to the patient,'' Tarpley said.

Slobodian's recovery from surgery was slow but steady, with about a month of bed rest before he could walk with crutches. By high school, he was fit enough to make the volleyball and wrestling teams. Now Slobodian is preparing for a career as a medical technician, having recently become a certified ultrasound diagnostician.

The pain and fatigue that had bothered Slobodian since he was 9 could have ended in amputation if not for his treatment at St. Jude's, doctors told the young man. ``If I came three, four months later, they would have had to cut my leg off,'' Slobodian said.

``I consider myself lucky, because I see so many kids with no leg at all,'' he said. ``I didn't (even) have to go through radiation or chemotherapy.''