Children set hair-raising example in giving
Published: July 5, 2007
Charitable contributions can get a little hairy.
About 14 Girl Scouts, Scout leaders and others in the Fort Knox and north Hardin County area lopped off their hair Tuesday at The Primp Shop in Vine Grove to support Locks of Love.
The charity collects donated hair to make wigs for children who have lost or can’t grow hair for medical reasons.
Owner Bonny McCarthy opened The Primp Shop on her off day to collect the hair for free. She offered post-donation styles for $5.
Troop leader Laura Krbec’s daughters, 8-year-old Mackenzie Krbec and 5-year-old Brigid Krbec, were among the first donors.
Mackenzi Krbec didn’t flinch when her mother dangled 10 inches of hair in front of her, but she wiggled around as McCarthy tried to style her hair.
“You’re gonna cut my neck off,” she said, shying away from McCarthy’s scissors.
McCarthy pulled the girl’s head closer and said she could have a piece of Laffy Taffy candy when her hair was finished.
The child licked her lips and moved a little less.
The idea for the event stemmed from two sisters in one of Laura Krbec’s troops who have donated before.
Ashley Butler has given to the charity every year since she was 3 years old, when she sliced off a large chunk with safety scissors in preschool.
Butler said she likes helping people, and she has seen family members with cancer.
Laura Krbec said the girls’ contribution can show other Scouts how important it is to help people.
“I think it’s important for them to realize the giving to other girls,” she said.
Troop members talked about why it was important for them to give their hair, and they looked at people on the Locks of Love Web site who have benefited from similar donations, Laura Krbec said.
Those involved in the charity want to make hair loss easier for children, said Lauren Kukkamaa, Locks of Love communications director.
Children who lose their hair often don’t want to go to school or participate in their normal activities because they’re self-conscious, Kukkamaa said.
About 80 percent of Locks of Love donations come from children, Kukkamaa said.
She said that form of giving appeals to children because it seems like something they can do easily, some of them have known people who have dealt with hair loss and people that age can be sensitive to what it’s like to be different.
“We hope that every donor who chooses to donate does so because it’s something they want to do because they want to give of themselves,” she said.
It takes six to 10 hand-selected ponytails to create a Locks of Love hair piece, Kukkamaa said. About 150,000 strands of hair are injected individually into a silicone cap that takes about four months to complete.
Fern Tanaka, Fort Knox service unit manager for the Girl Scouts, said it was great that the girls could make such a contribution with their hair.
“With the girls helping other girls, it probably gives them more self-esteem,” she said.
Tanaka decided to cut her hair, too.
Donors who couldn’t make it Tuesday turned in their bundles of hair before or after the event.
Troop members also drew support from people outside the Girl Scouts.
Journey Westenbarger, 6, heard about the event from the Krbec girls, who are on her soccer team, and a neighbor who’s in the troop.
Then her mother told her about it, and a neighbor showed her an episode of NBC’s “Today” show, on which Locks of Love representatives talked about the work.
Journey knew her hair was going to help people who are bald.
“I don’t want people to laugh at them,” she said.
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