Students make the cut through Locks of Love
Published: May 23, 2005
Broken up between Tuesday and Thursday, six seventh graders from Boone High School visited C N W Hair Express during their lunch periods to donate to charity in a perhaps a peculiar, but meaningful way. They got their hair cut.
Accompanied by chaperone Katy Christensen, their Spanish teacher who also participated, the group enacted the first and most dramatic step in the process to benefit the Locks of Love foundation, a nationwide nonprofit operating out of Florida.
When donating to LOL, the protocol is to cut off nearly a foot of hair, tethered together in a pony tail, to then store in a Ziplock baggy, and then mail to LOL with the donator’s name and length of contribution outlined.
Locks of Love got its start back in 1997 by Madonna Coffman in the Palm Beach area. Afflicted at an early age with Alopecia, medical hair loss, Coffman became devastated when her daughter too, began losing hair.
Coffman subsequently headed the nonprofit work which targeted economically disadvantaged children under 18.
The idea was to help individuals who do not have the money to correct possible extenuating suffering, such as self-image issues and poor self-esteem.
Coffman’s Locks of Love worked to counter such symptoms by distributing wigs.
In its first year, LOL only put together 21 hair pieces. Now, thanks to a rise in awareness and the generosity of folks like Christensen and students, it sends out over a 1,000, receiving about 3,000 bags of donated hair a week.
(Keep in mind; it takes a lot of contributions to even make a single wig.)
Mrs. Christensen first got the idea for her hair pledge after a friend set the example.
Then, noticing the impressive length of some of her student’s hair, she went ahead with recruitment.
Many volunteered, but only six had eligible lengths. Donators, after all, must be able to part with at least 10 inches of the stuff.
For those who do not make the cut, LOL encourages support in the traditional ways (sending money or volunteering). But the sacrifice most focused on is the hair.
Though gawking at her reflection, very different in appearance than it was mere minutes before, Seventh grader Shelby Wiese confirmed her choice as worth it, saying, “It’s a chance for a kid with cancer to blend in with everyone else.”
Holly Wrage, whose contribution weighed in at an impressive 12 inches, had identical thoughts.
Though making faces at how unfamiliar the Holly in the mirror seemed, she too claimed harboring no regrets.
Which is impressive, commented hairdresser Julie Herrstrom, since 15 inches is the most C N W has ever taken from any one contributor.
C N W waived all costs for the collection of Seventh graders, happy to help Mrs. Christensen out.
However, C N W says its policy is to charge for the service, citing the large numbers of customers who get cuts to donate.
They come in spurts, says Herrstrom, whenever there is a write up or mention of it on television.
Wrage and the other donators seem happy to grow the hair back and do it all over again.
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