My eight-year-old daughter, Hannah, came to me in the fall of 2007, and told me that a few of the girls in her school had donated their hair to make wigs. She asked, Why would someone do that?

How would you feel, I replied, if you didn’t have any hair?

She thought for a moment before stating simply, I would feel badly.

We talked about how a person’s self-image is often associated with her hair. How often have you felt embarrassed about your hair-do or complained that you were having a bad hair day? How many times have you cursed your thin, thick, curly, or straight hair? Now just imagine if you didn’t even have hair to curse?

My daughter and I are lucky; we are both healthy individuals. However, there are some children who aren’t as lucky as we are, and that is why Locks of Love is available to help them. Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hair prostheses to disadvantaged and deserving children. The prostheses are offered free-of-charge or on a sliding-scale basis.

Many of the children who receive a Locks of Love prostheses suffer from an auto-immune condition called Alopecia, in which the hair follicles shut down. Of course, there are also the children who are suffering cancer and who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. 

Hannah and I have decided that by donating our hair, we are giving so little of ourselves, and yet we are helping another person in such a huge way. All it takes from us is time - nothing else.

I hope that you will join Hannah and me in making a hair donation to Locks of Love. Please take a few moments to read the guidelines for acceptable donations. Hannah and I would like to see how many bloggers we can get to commit to making a donation (and to follow through, of course!). Here is what you can do to show your support:

• Send an email to me at woolgatherings@gmail.com with “Locks of Love” in the subject field. In your email, please state that you commit to making a hair donation. Please provide at least a first name, although you may provide your city and blog address, as well. I will add your information to the “these bloggers made the commitment” list.
• Write a post about Bloggers for Locks of Love and ask each of your readers to make the commitment.
• When you have made the donation, email me at woolgatherings@gmail.com with your name AND include the URL of your Locks of Love post in which you show evidence of getting your hair cut (you holding your cut ponytail). I will then add your information to a “these bloggers made the cut” list. *The permanant page is located here.*
• Join the Bloggers for Locks of Love Flickr Group (optional) in which you can post a picture of yourself holding your cut ponytail.
• There is no end date. This is an ongoing project to see how many bloggers we can get to donate their hair.
• **You do NOT have to be a blogger to participate. If you read a blog, then I consider you a blogger.**

If you are not able to donate your hair, would you please consider posting about Bloggers for Locks of Love on your site?

Sk*rt this story!! Click on the “LOVE” button.

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