It’s almost too painful to think about. Beautiful children with open faces and genuine smiles confront daily the reality of serious medical conditions that not only cause them to lose their hair, but to suffer the loss of self confidence and to endure the embarrassment from the adverse attention they receive because of their hair loss.
Whether it is from an autoimmune disorder, severe burns, or radiation and chemotherapy treatments for cancer, many of these children withdraw from normal activities rather than face ostracism or negative attention caused by their condition.
Fortunately, there is a non-profit organization that, since 1998, has focused its attention on providing hairpieces for children under age 18 suffering from long-term medical related hair loss. Called Locks of Love, its mission is to “return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children.”
The specialized hair prosthetics, secured by a vacuum seal that only the wearer can break, are purchased by Locks of Love for their recipients and allow the children to do anything that kids do - swim, shower, play at recess, or participate in sports like gymnastics.
As long as the guidelines are followed, anyone can donate hair that can be used for hair prosthetics or to offset manufacturing costs of these hairpieces. While there are a number of ways to make donations, one of the best and easiest is to participate in a salon-sponsored event like the one that will take place in Norwood on Monday, June 2 at Salon Rouge, 719 Washington Street, which is across the street from Conrad’s restaurant in the downtown business district. The hours of the event are from 2 to 5:00 p.m.
Owner Katie Pierce and her stylists, Al, Ashley, and Stacey, will be on hand to cut hair at no charge. They will take care of meeting the physical requirements of the donations and provide the envelopes for the donated locks.
The opportunity to do something for these special children while meeting the needs of people who tend to cut their hair shorter for the warm spring and summer months motivated Katie and her staff to open on a day when they are usually closed.
“It’s nice to have people donate their hair for cancer patients, since they are having it done anyway,” said Katie, a warm young woman who runs this sparkling, happy, popular salon.
There are a few guidelines participants will need to keep in mind. Hair must be at least 10 inches long, and may be colored or permed, but must be free of bleach. An appointment is necessary and can be made by calling Salon Rouge at 781-278-9888.
Many who have donated hair through this wonderful program do so whenever they can. My sister grows her gray hair long every year just so that she can donate it to Locks of Love. Even if her gray hair cannot be used for children’s hairpieces, it can be sold to offset the cost of the prosthetics, which are valued at $3,500 to $6,000 at retail. For Locks of Love recipients, they are free or available on a sliding scale based on family income.
Locks of Love is always in need of hair, since recipients can reapply for a new hairpiece every 18 months. It takes six to 10 ponytails to make a single hairpiece, which is sent to the child fairly long in length so that it can be styled to their liking.
To learn more about the program, go to www.locksoflove.org. See for yourself the amazing difference these natural hairpieces make for the young people who wear them. It will open your eyes and your heart, just as it has the hearts of the good people at Salon Rouge.
Norwood resident Candace Leary’s Midpoints column appears Mondays in the Transcript.
