When every snip helps children
Published: January 6, 2005
Katy McLaughlin had a special Christmastime surprise for two of her cousins. It was a new hair cut, not for them but for her as she would be cutting her hair for Locks of Love.
Locks of Love is the Florida organization that collects hair in order to make wigs for children with long term medical hair loss.
“My aunt (her cousins’ mother) died of cancer 10 years ago at age 38,” said McLaughlin. “She always had hats on because she lost her hair.”
McLaughlin, of Marlborough, decided to grow her hair and have it cut for Locks of Love to help someone who has lost their hair due to a disease.
“I hope it can help someone who has a disease like their mom,” said McLaughlin.
She was one of four people having their hair cut for Locks of Love on Dec. 13 at Designer’s Edge hair salon, 74 Clearview Drive, owned by Pat Maker of Marlborough.
Kristin Sousa of Hudson, a hair stylist at Designer’s Edge, got the inspiration to have her hair cut for Locks of Love through her son Tyler who had a friend in his class who died of cancer and a girl in that class who got her hair cut for the charitable organization.
“I felt that if a girl in third grade could do it,” said Sousa, “it was the least I could do.”
With Sousa growing her hair for Locks of Love, her sister Kelly Hosmer, a marathon runner, decided to have her long hair cut also.
“When Kristen told me,” said Hosmer, “I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do it with you.”‘
“My hair has been ready a long time. It’s been ready longer than me,” added Hosmer.
That wasn’t the end of the inspiring tale as Sousa and Hosmer’s niece, Krystle Hughes, a Clinton resident and a senior at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough, also decided to have her hair cut for the Locks of Love organization.
“When Aunt Kristin told me about it, I told my mom (Kristin and Kelly’s sister, Karen Hughes of Clinton), and I decided to do it too.”
When the four local women, who shared the fairy tale character Rapunzel’s gift of long hair, got together in December, they were able to collectively cut 42 inches to be donated to Locks of Love.
Comments like, “It looks marvelous,” “How cute it is,” and “It feels so good” filled the air as Sousa had 10 inches cut off, Hosmer had 12 inches cut off, Hughes had 10 inches cut off and McLaughlin had 10 inches cut off.
Kristin Sousa, Kelly Hosmer and Karen Hughes are the daughters of Phyllis and Bob Flanagan of Marlborough. Katy McLaughlin is the daughter of Laura Miller and Darren McLaughlin of Marlborough.
The cut hair was sent to the Locks of Love organization in Lake Worth, Fla.
It takes 6 to 10 long ponytails of donated hair, at least 10 inches each, to make a hairpiece at a cost of about $1,000.
Locks of Love, founded in 1997, provides financially disadvantaged children with custom, vacuum-fitted hairpieces. The vacuum fit is designed for children who have experienced a total loss of scalp hair and does not require the use of tape or glue.
Hundreds of children have been helped since the Locks of Love’s first year of operation. Donors provide the hair, volunteers staff the office, and the manufacturer hand-assembles each piece, which requires approximately four months.
Most of the applicants suffer from an auto-immune condition called alopecia areata, for which there is no known cause or cure. Others have suffered severe burns, or endured radiation treatment to the brain stem, in addition to many other dermatological conditions that result in permanent hair loss.
For more information on Locks of Love, visit its Web site at www.locksoflove.org.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: