Sisters donate hair to Locks of Love
Published: May 16, 2005
Two young sisters started a birthday tradition this month when both had their long manes snipped into short bobs to help children who can’t grow their own hair because of illness.
Elizabeth Pryor, 4, sat up straight on a black suitcase stacked in a chair as stylist Linda Harris pulled her golden locks into a tight, high ponytail, then began slicing through it with sharp scissors.
She handed off the bundle to her mother, Kimberly Pryor, who tucked the hair inside a large plastic bag for safe keeping.
Pryor said it was Elizabeth’s first haircut and the first time she would be donating just over 10 inches of her blonde tresses to Locks of Love, an agency that provides hairpieces to needy children with medical hair loss.
“When Elizabeth was 3, we asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut and she said she wanted to wait to grow it out for sick children,” Pryor said.
Elizabeth’s older sister, Jane Frances, 7, also was having her hair cut at Mobile’s Mane Attraction that afternoon. It’s the same salon frequented by First Lady Laura Bush when she visits friends in Mobile.
Jane Frances’ haircut marked her second donation to the Florida-based not-for-profit group where custom-fitted hairpieces are provided free of charge or at a discounted rate to those under 18 whose families meet specific requirements.
The sisters, two of five siblings who live in Baldwin County’s Stockton community with their parents, got the idea from their mom, who talked with the girls when she donated her own hair a few years back.
Kimberly said she was inspired by a group of local students growing out their hair to show support for a sick friend.
Nationally, children account for more than 80 percent of donations to Locks of Love, according to information provided on their Web site.
Here’s how the program works:
Donors, such as Elizabeth and Jane Frances, provide the hair, then mail it to the offices in Florida. Volunteers staff the agency’s headquarters and a manufacturer hand-assembles each piece, which requires about four months to complete.
The organization, which began in 1997, has helped more than 1,000 children. The group receives thousands of bundles of donated hair from around the country. Most donors mail a note and a photo with the bundle.
Locks of Love provides recipients with a custom, vacuum-fitted hairpiece made entirely from donated human hair. The fit is designed for children who have experienced a total loss of scalp hair and does not require the use of tape or glue.
Most applicants suffer from an autoimmune condition called alopecia areata, for which there is no known cause or cure. Other recipients have suffered severe burns, or endured radiation treatment, in addition to other conditions that result in permanent hair loss.
The effort to start Locks of Love was led by Madonna Coffman, a retired nurse with years of volunteer experience working for not-for-profit agencies in the Palm Beach area of Florida.
In her 20s, Coffman developed alopecia after receiving a hepatitis vaccination. She eventually recovered. Fifteen years later, her young daughter developed the same disorder, losing all of her hair. That’s when Coffman gave up other charity work to take on Locks of Love as a full-time volunteer.
More than 2,000 hair donations are received through the mail each week, according to the Web site. The number of hairpieces produced has increased significantly since its inception, from 21 the first year to more than 1,000. The charity has recipients in all 50 states and Canada.
The Pryor sisters, who said they plan to continue growing out their hair for the program, created a stir in the Springhill salon in early May as stylists told clients sitting around them what they were up to.
“You are doing a good thing,” one customer said, straining in her seat to get a look at the girls, then flashing them a smile. “That’s wonderful.”
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