Fourth-grader goes a cut above to help sick kids
Published: June 5, 2005
Nine-year-old Emily Niestockel recently volunteered to donate her hair to Locks of Love.
The non-profit organization, which provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children, helps restore self-esteem and confidence to those suffering from long-term hair loss. Many of the children who receive hairpieces from Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition, alopecia areata, or as the result of chemotherapy treatments.
Emily, who will be in the fourth-grade at Christian Academy of Indiana/Northside campus this fall, said she heard about Locks of Love when a classmate donated her hair in first-grade.
“I wanted to do this because I heard about sick children, and I wanted to help them,” she said.
After growing her tresses past her shoulders, Emily recently had hairstylist Wendy Ramsey at Hello Gorgeous Salon cut off approximately eight inches. Emily’s grandmother, Naomi Niestockel of Georgetown, said they were going to send the hair to Locks of Love with a few other items.
“Emily wanted to write a letter to go with her hair, and she wants to send a picture of herself,” Naomi said. “She’s pretty kind-hearted. And growing hair is something even a child can do to help someone else. It’s a wonderful thing.”
Emily hopes other people in the community will follow her footsteps.
“There are so many people who need hair,” she said. “There are so few people in the world who donate it, and it would be better if everybody did it.”
Locks of Love, which was founded near Palm Beach, Fla. in 1997, receives approximately 2,000 hair donations each week. While adult men and women donate frequently, 80 percent of the hair donations are from children like Emily. The organization has gained national attention on television shows such as Oprah, 20/20 and Good Morning America and in publications such as People magazine and The New York Times
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