NORTH JERSEY - Just what happens to all those Locks of Love?
Posted 2008-01-23
NORTH JERSEY - One North Jersey girl wanted nothing more than to give a child her locks of love for Christmas.
Another - in Bloomingdale - enjoyed donating her hair so much that she is working on a new contribution for kids enduring the heartache of hair loss that is in some cases unexplained.
Month after month, Suburban Trends gets photos of Morris and Passaic county girls - and at least once a boy - who willingly sacrifice their long tresses so that others can cover barren heads and regain new confidence.
And many times, local hair salons get into the spirit too by donating a stylish new cut to these girls and helping to prepare their pony-tail or braid of at least 10 inches of hair for the non-profit Locks of Love program.
But what happens to the hair after it goes through the mail protected by a plastic bag and padded envelope to Locks of Love in Lake Worth, Fla.? How does this hair find its way into a new prosthetic hairpiece for a financially disadvantaged girl or boy with long-term medical hair loss? And what do the prospective recipients of this hairpiece have to do on their end to make the exchange successful?
Suburban Trends posed those questions recently to a representative of Locks of Love, which has helped over 2,000 children since it began operation in 1998.
Thousands of bundles of donated hair arrive as a result of the Internet and world of mouth as well as media publicity in not only the United States but across the world.
Opening the mail
"It all arrives to us in Florida. We are six staff members and lots of volunteers every day who help open the mail and sort it by length and similar color," said Lauren Kukkamaa, communications director for Locks of Love.
It takes six to 10 ponytails to make one prosthetic hairpiece of such quality that kids can move freely in - even swim and shower - without fear that the custom, vacuum-fitted creation will slip off.
Each child requesting a hairpiece is able to choose its color and length, so the Locks of Love staff will try to match donations with need, she said.
But before a child can get their new hairpiece, Kukkamaa said they have some work to do. What's needed first is a mold of the child's head to guarantee the fit of the new tresses. Parents can create the mold themselves with the help of a Locks of Love video or they can ask a doctor or hair stylist to assist.
Either way, the mold is then mailed to Florida where it results in a plastic cap, which is mailed back to the child to check fit.
If the fit is correct, Kukkamaa said, "Then a silicone cap is created that will serve as the base of the actual hairpiece."
Not only will the child select color and length of the hairpiece but they also will have a say in the color of the silicone cap since it will show through the hair, just as a scalp does. Darker colors are a more appropriate match for darker children and light for lighter children.
Four to six months to create
Then it's off to a California manufacturer with the selected ponytails and the correct-fitting mold. It takes four to six months for workers to hand-assemble the hairpiece with a device that resembles a sewing needle, Kukkamaa said.
For those with long-term hair loss, it's worth the wait because the final result will be a natural hairpiece that the child can style as they wish. It's worth $3,500 to $6,000 if the family had to pay full price. However, because these families are disadvantaged, they pay according to their ability.
Locks of Love is proud to be able to help without having to put any children on a waiting list. This is more difficult than it sounds because children may need a replacement every 18 months, which can amount to six to eight hairpieces before adulthood. This is due to wear and tear as well as the child's growth. And the nonprofit strives to meet those continued needs for children it serves, both boys and girls under the age of 18.
Locks of Love can avoid a waiting list because so many children have embraced the program, deciding that they want to help other children in this way.
"Because it's giving of yourself, it gets so many people involved," she said, from schools to Scouts to church groups. "Even motorcycle clubs will get together and decide they want to donate. Every donor has some reason for donating."
According to the Locks of Love web site, "Children comprise over 80 percent of the donors, making this a charity where children have the opportunity to help other children," but adults can help as well. Color-treated hair is accepted although it will be returned to its natural state before it's accepted into a hairpiece. Donated hair that is not suitable for a prosthetic hairpiece may be sold at market value to offset manufacturing costs.
The future
Today, Locks of Love is growing and expects to grow even more if it can get the word out that the organization is not strictly for children who lose hair due to cancer treatments, Kukkamaa said. Most often it is the medical condition called alopecia areata - for which there is no known cause or cure - that sends children for help.
But really it can be any medical condition that causes long-term hair loss that qualifies children as Locks of Love recipients, Kukkamaa said.
Because it takes so long to make a prosthetic hairpiece, those are reserved for children with long-term conditions. Artificial hairpieces are given to those with short-term needs as may be the case with cancer treatments.
For more information on Locks of Love, go to the web site or send e-mail to info@locksoflove.org.
