Petal girl inspires sister’s project
Published: May 24, 2005
Six-year-old McKenzie Odom came home from kindergarten one day and announced to her family she wanted to cut her hair and give it to sick children who do not have hair.
Her concern sparked a desire in her sister, Ashlea Odom, to donate hair on a grander scale. The Petal High School senior organized a Locks of Love hair drive as her senior class project.
“We got about 18 ponytails. I was very touched, and I didn’t think there would be that many,” said Ashlea Odom. “I saw how happy it made her to do something like that, and I knew other little girls probably wouldn’t mind giving their hair for a good cause.”
Lynn Pyron, a beautician with Mane Event hair salon in Petal, said three girls under 8 donated their hair.
“Most of the time they’re excited because they know they’re doing something good,” she said, adding cutting more than 10 inches of hair at that age is a big sacrifice because most little girls care about their hair’s appearance.
“They tell me how they’ve been growing it out for a year,” she said. “I’ve had several little girls after I’ve cut their hair tell me they want to grow it out so they can donate more.”
Odom said she did a research paper to go along with the hair drive on Alopecia, an autoimmune skin disease resulting in the loss of hair on the scalp and elsewhere on the body. When she saw that her little sister was so excited about donating her hair to sick children, Odom said she was inspired.
“I thought it was incredible for a 6-year-old to think of doing that,” she said.
Sandra Odom, the sisters’ mother, said McKenzie’s hair was down to her waist when she cut it.
“She already had long hair; we just had to let it grow a little bit longer,” Sandra said. “She probably begged for six weeks before I took her, and when I did, she hopped up in the chair and never blinked an eye.”
She said McKenzie has already said she wants to grow her hair out so she can donate more.
Ashlea said she got an A on her senior project.
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