Donating My Hair to Locks of Love

To some people their hair is a source of pride, a part of themselves to show off that must always be cut in the latest style and bounce around like a shampoo commercial. To others it is a constant object of lament, never falling the right way or frizzing up at even a mention of humidity. My hair always fell somewhere in the middle. Some days, it was great, pulling in the compliments on its natural wave and thickness; other days I wanted to take a shaver to it a la Britney Spears because I could not bend it to my will. But no matter which hair showed up on whatever day it was, it was always a safety net. I always had my hair to hide behind. Then my aunt told me about her granddaughter, my second cousin, Riley, cutting off all of her almost-waist-length hair-to donate to Locks of Love. Only nine years old, she was thinking of other kids that needed her hair more than she did. Her mother and her grandmother cried...I was inspired.

Locks of Love create wigs for children under the age of 18 for free "on a sliding scale based on the financial need" (locksoflove.org) of the child's caregiver. The children have lost their hair for a whole host of reasons, from chemotherapy to a autoimmune disease called alopecia areata, but as long as the hair loss is a medical reason, the child qualifies. Children under the age of six are given synthetic hair because of the rate of growth of their heads, but children ages 6-18 can re-apply for new pieces every 18 months. This is why the need for donations (both monetary and of hair) are always needed. Between six and ten ponytail donations go into every piece that is manufactured!

So there I sat, in June of 2006 at a Cost Cutters, trying to talk myself into cutting all my hair off. Literally all of my hair. In order to get the minimum 10 inches that Locks of Love requires, the beautician would have to cut my hair off at the scalp. I lost my nerve and settled for a cut to my shoulders. I just couldn't do it and I felt as though I had let my cousin down-even though she had no idea I had even heard of what she had done.

A year went by and I had let my hair grow, untrimmed, to give it another go. I went back to the same Cost Cutters and sat down in the chair of a very nice young lady and began to discuss my intentions of donating my hair. We made the ponytail, and after triple-verification that it was at least ten inches (I wasn't going to cut it all off for nothing!) I told her to just do it before I could change my mind again. My heart was pounding and I really thought that I was going to vomit as I heard those scissors hacking off that ponytail. When it was over, I sat there in a stunned silence as the stylist worked on what was left of my hair. Surprisingly, after my whole adult life being spent thinking that I could not pull off a really short haircut, I wasn't totally horrified at what I saw in the mirror when she was done. It also helped that another salon patron told me that she admired my "balls" and the stylist almost cried and told me that I had made her day. But the one thought that truly kept me from breaking down was this: I can grow new hair...some kid out there cannot. If a few months of growing out a haircut that I wasn't completely in love with would help restore a child's sense of worth and self-esteem, I could suck it up and live with a short 'do for a while.

If you are considering donating your hair to Locks of Love, check out the web site at www.locksoflove.org to get information on what types of hair are okay (perm, colored, or gray) and what types are not (bleached or dreadlocks for example) and a whole list of valuable Frequently Asked Questions. The website also has lists of salons that participate, but even if yours is not on the list you can request a form from the site and complete the process yourself.

It felt great dropping that envelope of hair into the mail...and who knows, maybe a child will have a new head of hair for Christmas this year because of myself and 5-9 other individuals...and that feels fantastic.