Comment: If you're doing this to mak... by Saturniia on 43 Things

I’m currently working on this goal, not because I want long hair for myself, but because I’m growing my hair until it is long enough to donate to Locks of Love, the foundation that takes donated hair and creates wigs for children who have lost their hair due to chemo, alopecia, etc.

This is something I’ve done since just before my 18th birthday (I’m now 23). I had never heard of this organization before, but just before I started college in 2000, I decided my long hair made me look younger than what I was and I wanted cute short hair to make me look more like someone going into college instead of someone in high school. Because my hair was previously very long, my stylist first put it in a ponytail and then cut that off so it would be easier to start working on my new hairstyle. She then asked me if I wanted to donate my ponytail, and I looked at her like she was psycho, then she explained to me the concept behind Locks of Love, so I said, “Sure, why not? Sounds great.” When I got home, I looked up the organization on the Internet ( http://www.locksoflove.org ). Seeing what a difference donating my hair could make in the self-image of a child … all I can say is Wow! Something I took for granted, something I wanted to get rid of, was something these kids were yearning for.

I don’t remember the exact length of my first donation, but I want to say it was around 15 inches (10 inches is the minimum amount needed to create one wig). Since then, I have made two additional donations, one of 12 inches and one of 10 inches, and I am currently working on growing out my hair for a fourth time. It usually takes between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 years for my hair to reach the right length for me to make a donation and still have between chin- and shoulder-length hair afterwards, but it is worth it. Sometimes I get discouraged, especially when it starts getting difficult to care for or style, but then I remember those children who do not have hair to care for and it helps me put things into the proper perspective to stick with it.

Dec 05, 2005, 08:23PM PST | 1 cheer

Comments:

Saturniia

If you’re doing this to make you happy, then I’m happy for you. However, if you’re only doing this to help improve the self-image of a child, I hope you’re aware that there’s a very good chance that your shorn hair is going toward the manufacture of commercial hairpieces to offset the cost of those wigs the organization does donate to children.

Also, the company’s financial report is not published online, so there is no way to tell how much money from the sale of those hairpieces is or is not going toward the creation of donatable hair pieces and/or the running of Locks of Love. I wouldn’t make a monetary donation to an organization if I didn’t know where my dollars were going. Do you really want to donate your hair to an organization that says it makes wigs for kids without hair without knowing the number of hairpieces donated vs. the number of hairpieces sold for profit?

Like I said, if you’re doing this to make you happy, rock on. If you’re doing this because you think your hair is sitting on the head of a child without his or her own mane, maybe you should consider making a monetary donation to the organization, instead. To people who are also thinking about donating their hair after reading Melinda’s reasoning, do it if you think it’s the right thing to do, but research it first. Look over the organization’s website and decide if you trust what they’re telling you. Look for articles on the charity that come from non-partial sources, not just the organization’s press releases.

Most of all, remember that wigs may be great for a child’s self-confidence, but they are not a cure for cancer. Only through time and the money to fund research can doctors and other scientists discover ways to send cancer into remission, or cure it altogether. If you want to help children with cancer, but aren’t as sure as Melinda that Locks of Love is the means for you, consider making a monetary donation to a respectable charity.

Dec 06, 2005, 08:34PM PST | Respond to this 1 cheer

Melinda

Locks of Love is the right choice for me. While I don’t always have the extra money to give to charities, I can always give of myself, whether it be my time, my skills … or in this case my hair. Whether my actual hair is now sitting on the head of a child who needs it, or whether my hair was sold to fund the process of manufacturing a wig of someone else’s hair, as long as it benefits the children, that’s all that matters to me.

If I didn’t donate my hair to Locks of Love, it would just be thrown away at the salon, whether it was an inch or 10+ inches at a time. Why not let it go to good use?

I’m not doing it to make myself happy, though the joy of giving is an added bonus. I’m doing it because it is something I can do to make a difference with what resources I have.

BTW, for more independent info on Locks of Love, here is a link to the Better Business Bureau report: http://www.give.org/reports/report.aspx?ID=733&ReportType=1

Dec 06, 2005, 09:12PM PST | Thread | Respond to this

(This comment was deleted.)

Dec 08, 2005, 01:56PM PST

Melinda

Yes, lots of cancer patients want a cure, but lots of children with cancer also want to feel like they fit in with other kids. Until there is a cure, the only thing they have is the chance at an improved quality of life for the time they have.

Also, the LOL wigs don’t just go to kids with cancer … they also go to kids with alopecia, a disease where the immune system attacks the hair folicles and the person loses their hair. According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, “onset most often begins in childhood and can be psychologically devastating.” Having a wig can help with the psychological effects of the disease by helping the child feel like they fit in with their peers.

Yes, I suppose I could sell my hair directly to a private wigmaker and donate the money to a charity, but I would still only get “fair market value” and the children would have to pay for their own wigs, at a profit for the wigmaker. Or, I can donate it to LOL, let them decide how my hair would be best used, and the children get their wigs at no cost to them.

I received the following in an e-mail from LOL:

“We DO accept gray hair and short hair, longer than six inches, and the complete ponytails are separated from the other ponytails, because they are unsuitable to make a child’s hairpiece. We do sell them in bulk and the proceeds help us with our administrative, and production costs. We are a non-for-profit organization.”

I don’t understand why some feel this is so unreasonable for them to have production and administrative costs. This is true with nearly any charitable organization … even cancer research organizations have these costs.

I am young, my hair has never been colored, is not chemically damaged, and is well within the required length for making the wigs.

What makes it okay for me to sell it myself and give the money to some other charity, but not okay for me to give my hair directly to the charity of my choice and let them use it how they see fit? What makes one charity better than another? They all have costs they have to offset somehow, whether it is through cash donations or through donations of some other kind.

Dec 09, 2005, 05:51PM PST | Respond to this

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