Hairy scene that makes a difference
Published: February 6, 2007
Brooke Lofgren’s pink boots dangled from a swivel chair in the Twin Image Salon Spa on Wednesday, as a stylist sheared off 10 inches of her radiant blond hair.
The 10-year-old, her blue eyes watching the reflected image of her hair morph into a chin-length bob, grinned as the stylist made the last snip.
“How do you feel?” asked Brooke’s mother, Maria Lofgren, asked.
Her daughter simply laughed.
“You’re going to make some little kid very happy,” Lofgren said to the beaming Brooke.
Brooke, who has been growing her hair for two years, decided on her own to donate her long tresses to Locks of Love - a national nonprofit organization that provides free hairpieces to children suffering from medical hair loss.
Though the organization can’t track each donated ponytail’s journey because of privacy issues, it garners monetary and hair donations from across the country.
In Iowa City, the G Spot Hair Design, 9 S. Linn St., has provided 350 Locks of Love haircuts since it opened in 2000, and the shop will help the UI Dance Marathon donate more hair in its annual 24-hour dance-a-thon this weekend. At 8:40 a.m. this Saturday, 25 UI students and two parents will each chop off 10 inches on stage, said Travis Bushaw, the Dance Marathon executive director.
Last year, Dance Marathon allocated approximately $2,000 to buy wigs for kids at the UI Hospitals and Clinics’ Children’s Hospital of Iowa through a program called “Nu Do,” Bushaw said.
“The more hair we provide, the more chances the kids can get a wig,” he said, noting that the Locks of Love haircuts have been a hit at the event in the past. “It’s neat to watch the looks on the kids faces when they watch the college kids go up and get all this hair cut off.”
Six to 10 ponytails are needed for each hairpiece, and the variety of styles and colors allow kids to customize their new do.
The organization has provided free prosthetics to children and their families who have demonstrated medical and financial need since 1997. Kids such as Brooke make up the biggest group of Locks of Love hair donors, said Lauren Kukkamaa, the organization’s communications director.
“About 80 percent of all the donated hair we receive comes from children,” she said. “Ultimately, what it makes is a place where children can help other children.”
Lofgren said that’s true for her daughter, who has encountered children affected by cancer more than most of her peers because of Lofgren’s job at the UIHC, where she works as a neonatal nurse practitioner.
But it was a family friend’s experience that prompted Brooke’s decision.
“My mom knows a friend that has cancer, and we know a lot of people that [donate], so I just decided to,” she said.
Maria Lofgren’s longtime friend, who has two young children, lost her hair during treatment for breast cancer. The kids had a difficult time dealing with their mother’s different hairstyle, and Brooke saw a way she could comfort others.
“I think kids are more apt to accept change,” Lofgren said. “And their hearts are so big, and everybody does what they can. When you can’t donate millions, you donate hair.”
The fifth-grader said her new look will be a surprise to most of her friends, especially one she saw just hours before the haircut.
“She’ll see me with long hair and short hair in one day,” she said.
Brooke’s 13-year-old sister is also planning to donate her locks, following in her younger sibling’s somewhat smaller footsteps.
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