Lopping off locks? Donate to make wigs for children

Long, flowing hair makes a woman easily recognizable and is sometimes the best way to tell a little girl from a little boy. Now, imagine if a little girl had no hair to run her little fingers through, making her feel secluded and different from other children.

There is a way to help make children with little to no hair feel “normal” again.

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides custom-fitted hairpieces to financially underprivileged children and young adults up to age 21. The children who come to Locks of Love have suffered some sort of medical hair loss, such as alopecia or cancer. Hair donations from people with healthy hair are what make the wigs possible for children and young adults experiencing hair loss.

Anyone can donate their hair, provided that it is dry and in a ponytail. Colored or permed hair is acceptable, but bleached hair cannot be used. The Locks of Love website, www.locksoflove.org, notes that 10 inches is the minimum length needed for a hairpiece, but shorter lengths are acceptable and sold to offset manufacturing costs.

Casey Leiker, a cosmetologist at Posh Salon and Spa in Newton, suggests donating hair if someone is cutting off quite a bit of length that is usable.

“What seems so insignificant to us, it just means a lot more to a child who needs it,” Leiker said. “We even have guys come in and donate.”

Leiker said that Posh has been helping people give to Locks of Love for roughly 12 years.

“I think it was a child that got me in on it, and we just got some pamphlets on it and went from there,” she said. “It’s usually little people (who donate), which is really sweet because they know it’s for another child. That’s what I like about it.”

Her daughters even donate to the cause, Leiker said, and she makes sure they can cut off at least four or five inches to send in.

Between Leiker and the two other cosmetologists in her studio, an average of about 40 ponytails are cut off for donations each year. They save the hair in a ziplock bag and when it’s full, they take it to the local post office.

“The postman just kind of looked at me and laughed when he asked if it was perishable,” Leiker said of her first time getting ready to mail a bag of hair.

Colfax resident Danae Beals recently lopped off over a foot of her hair to send to Locks of Love, with the help of the stylists at Posh.

“Normally, I donate between eight and nine inches, but this time I donated 13,” she said. “I donated more because I decided to really chop my hair this time.”

Beals’ grandmother had cancer several years ago — leaving her wearing a wig —which is a factor in why Beals likes to help out with the cause. She tries to donate her hair every two to three years, after it’s grown long enough.

“I’ve always been the type to want to help others,” she said. “That’s one of the things I tell myself — that it always grows back. I love to grow it back out and donate it again and again.”

For more information on the organization, or guidelines on how to donate, visit www.locksoflove.org. Also, visit your salon to find out if they will send the hair, or if you must send it yourself.

Amy Gronauer can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 426 or via e-mail at agronauer@newtondailynews.com.