Haircuts help ailing children

Alisa Griffiths gets her hair cut a full 10 inches -- for a good cause. photo by Judy Vallembois

There's a whole lot of hair cutting going on at Deri's Hair Salon these days and it's for a very good cause. The hair is donated to Locks of Love.

According to their web page, "Locks of Love" is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the U.S. suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

"Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a condition called alopecia areata which has no known cause or cure," the website states.

"The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers. The majority of all hair donated comes from children who wish to help other children."

Recently Megan Minke, age eight of Sisters, wanted her hair cut. Megan likes her hair either long or short -- she wanted a change. The cut would have been a little short of the required 10 inches for donation. When Deri Frazee lets customers know they're close to cutting 10 inches off, which allows her to send it to Locks of Love, customers often consent to having the full 10 inches cut off.

Megan opted for the full cut.

"Real hair looks more natural (in a wig)," Frazee said. "They can curl it. This way they get a lot of textures and variations such as wavy or straight."

This week Alisa Griffiths also had 10 inches cut off. Griffiths had heard about the program in passing.

She had been talking about getting her hair cut and recently experienced headaches which she attributed to the weight of her long hair.

Off it went, to provide hair for a child.

For those with more money than hair, financial donation information is also available at the website www.locksoflove.org.

Call toll free at 1-888- 896-1588.