Girl has hair to spare for ailing children
Published: May 10, 2007
Thanks to a kindergartner from Hartland Township, the fight against disease is going to be a little easier for some kids.
Lauren Smith, 6, recently made her second donation to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.
According to her mother, Kathy Smith, Lauren first became aware of the Locks of Love program around Christmas of 2005.
“Lauren’s hair was so long back then that she could sit on it,” Kathy Smith said. “I work at Hurley Hospital in Flint, and my specialty is working with children. Lauren had always been asking about the kids at the hospital, and that’s when I told her about Locks of Love.”
When Lauren found out that she could donate her hair to help make a hairpiece for a child suffering from cancer or some other disease, she jumped at the chance.
“I thought it would be a good way to make little girls happy,” said Lauren, who attends Round Elementary School in Hartland Township.
The hair has to be at least 10 inches long to donate to Locks of Love, and Lauren had more than enough to send in.
“You mail it to them in Florida,” Kathy Smith said. “A little while later, Lauren got a really nice card and a thank-you letter.”
Her mother said that Lauren got such a good feeling from making her first donation to Locks of Love that she decided to make another one. Lauren spent all of 2006 and early 2007 letting her hair grow out, and by March of this year, it was long enough.
“Her birthday was on March 7, and by then, she had another 111/2 inches to donate,” Kathy Smith said. “So she got it cut off again.”
Lauren’s hair is growing once again, and her mom said she’s hoping to inspire other students at her school to consider making donations, too.
“It’s just a wonderful program,” Kathy Smith said.
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