Student, mother donate hair to Locks of Love
Published: May 25, 2005
With two classes of excited kindergartners looking on, Lillian Goff, 6, a kindergarten student at Ritchie Elementary School, and her mother Rene both had their waist-length brown hair clipped to shoulder-length on May 12, in order to give up a good 10 inches of their tresses to the nonprofit organization Locks of Love.
The kindergartners watched in fascination as Melanee Montalvo, owner of Salon Emage on Lee Street in Warrenton, combed and brushed hair into two perfect pony tails, measured them with a ruler and then lopped them off.
Lillian’s classmates didn’t miss a snip, uttering plenty of “oohs” and “aahs” as they squirmed around to find the right vantage point to witness little Lillian’s selfless act.
Locks of Love gives hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 with medical hair loss. The custom-fitted hair prosthetics are provided free of charge. Donors like Lillian and her mother provide the hair, which must be bundled in a pony tail or braid. Typically, 10 pony tails are needed to complete one of the hand-assembled hairpieces.
Children comprise more than 80 percent of the donors, making the charity one where children have the opportunity to help other children.
Goff said she and her daughter both wanted to help the worthy cause.
“We wanted to get our hair cut and then we thought, why not help Locks of Love? I had told Lillian about the Locks of Love organization, and she thought it was neat.”
Goff planned for the two simply to visit her regular salon, Salon Emage, one of two hair salons in Warrenton that participate in Locks of Love.
However, Lillian told her teacher, Lisa O’Bannon, what they planned to do, and O’Bannon immediately saw a teachable moment in the charitable act.
She asked Goff if she could arrange for the event to occur right in Lillian’s classroom. Goff asked a stylist from Salon Emage if she would be willing to comply with the unusual request, doubting all the while that she would have the time.
“Before I could even finish getting the question out of my mouth, she said sure, I can do that,” Goff said.
O’Bannon explained why she wanted Lillian’s classmates to witness the haircuts.
“Lillian is one child acting alone to make a difference for another child,” she said. “If other children understand this potential to give of themselves, at an early age, for the benefit of others in need, they will be better citizens and neighbors.”
When the deed was done, the hair stylist had left the classroom with the pony tails in hand, and normalcy returned to the classroom, Lillian’s classmates were supportive, in their way, of her charitable act.
“They have been very complimentary of her short hair,” O’Bannon said. “They keep touching it. It was just such a wonderful gift to give.”
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