Off for Love
Published: January 6, 2005
Columbus youths donate hair to Locks of Love.
Amy Robertson grimaced as stylist Brandi Perryman tuned up her scissors.
Oh, it’s not that Amy hasn’t donated almost 2 feet of her golden blond hair to the Locks of Love organization over the past four years. The minimum donation is 10 inches.
But now that she’s 12, and accustomed to shoulder length hair, having it snipped off in a couple of seconds is, well, ego-nizing.
But the St. Luke School seventh-grader was a real trouper Wednesday at Cooper’s At Uptown, a 10th Street salon.
“This is the third time I’ve had my hair cut, and I’ll probably do it again when I’m 14,” she said. And, as she gazed into the mirror after her almost foot-long ponytail was cut off, her new look seemed to please her. A smile returned to her face.
Amy, the daughter of Joe and Leslie Robertson of Columbus, learned about Locks of Love when she was 8 years old.
“I knew giving up my hair to help kids who don’t have hair is something I wanted to do,” she said. So did her sister, Anne, a freshman at Columbus High.
Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses are intended to restore the kids’ self-esteem and confidence.
It takes about five ponytails, such as the one Amy donated, to make a hairpiece.
“It would be nice if I could find out who actually got my hair, but we’re never given that information,” said Amy.
Leslie Robertson will put her daughter’s hair in a plastic bag and mail it to Locks of Love’s Lake Worth, Fla., headquarters.
To learn more about this program, in which several St. Luke’s students got involved last year, call (888) 896-1588.
“It’s certainly not painful,” said Amy, “and it doesn’t take long to do.” But it will take her about two more years to grow another foot of hair.
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