Locks of Love?
If you have long hair, you have probably heard of Locks of Love, a charity which accepts donations of hair for wigs. You may have even been told by friends and relatives that you should cut your hair and give it to them. But is this really a good idea?
Locks of Love’s publicity certainly makes it sound good. You hear about wigs being made for children with cancer. However, most recipients actually have permanent hair loss caused by alopecia areata. Obviously very sad too, but I suspect cancer is mentioned because it pulls more at the heart strings.
I’ve also found some question about what they really do with all the hair that has been donated. Their site states that they receive 2000 donations of hair through the mail every week, and make 1000 hairpieces. It’s not quite clear to me if the number of hairpieces is total since they opened or annual production.
So where is the rest of the hair going?
I understand that not all hair received will be usable. I also understand that it takes more than one donation to make a hairpiece - 6-10 donations, once again, according to their site.
If you check the FAQ, you will see that they do sell off unused hair. The FAQ states that the hair sold is under the 10 inch minimum required length.
You can see that Locks of Love is well rated by give.org, which is certainly a positive. However, that only covers the financial side of how the charity is run.
Would I donate to Locks of Love if I cut my hair someday?
Well, I have no plans to cut my hair anytime soon. But if I did, yes, I probably would. I do understand the reasons for selling off some of the hair. That they don’t tell people that most of their clients are not cancer patients when they get publicity disappoints me, but even so I think it’s a good cause. I don’t particularly care why a child has lost his or her hair. I would certainly rather they tell people when they need cash rather than cut hair, as apparently this is their greater need by far.
Probably the thing that annoys me most about Locks of Love, however, is only indirectly their fault. People who say I should cut my hair to send to them, as though I’m being selfish to keep it long. I’m only selfish for that if they’re selfish for not giving anything they have in excess to charity, and I get to define excess! Most of the people I know now know better than to suggest it, though.
