Time for a hair donation thread...

Parent Cafe
1

My best friend will donate their hair soon. I’ve had friends and family members use Locks of Love, but if you glance around the Internet, you’ll see that apparently they were on the “bad list” in the 2000s, although now are BBB approved as “safe giving”.

My question is, where else could they donate? Hair is more than 10" long and not cut yet. It’s all one length. The desire is to “do good” and set a good example. No pressure to cut their hair, they definitely want to cut it.

I’ve seen everything from “kids with alopecia don’t want to wear human hair wigs anyway” to “some teens definitely want to try human hair wigs as their closest chance to a normal look”. I for one think if any kids do want to get a human hair wig, it should be made easier for them.

And, if anyone is into hairdressing, is it better to wait until the length is from the base of the neck down, or is it okay to cut like a ponytail a few inches up? I don’t think they want to shave their head afterwards!

2

Make sure the hairdresser you go to actually donates to the charity. My 2 feet of hair never made it to any charity. Apparently, the hairdresser promoting herself as such sold the hair she cut for personal profit.

3

Oh, the length. Wait until it is 10 inches AFTER the haircut you want.

4

I’ve donated my hair about 10 times. I get it cut and send it in myself. Last time was about a month ago.

Personally, I donate it to a local charity called Wigs 4 Kids. I find local charities to be much better and they seem to be more reliable. Definitely ask around.

For the 10", what my hair person does is make sure that there’s at least 9 inches below the pony and when it’s cut there’s at least another inch above the pony.

5

My daughter just cut her hair last week for donation. She chose to donate through Pantene. They provide wigs for free for cancer patients. What she liked about Pantene was they only require 8 inches so she was able to maintain a very nice length hairstyle. Google Pantene hair donations and they tell you exactly what is required. You send it in yourself so no worries that the hair salon won’t do it and you just go to your own hairstylist.

6

I’m a guy and I grow hair like crazy - doesn’t grow long or anything, just spreads out over my head. It’d be nice if places like Great Clips had a hair donation program so it would make everything less of a hassle.

7

I donated my hair a couple months ago via Pantene Beautiful Lengths. You go to the hairdresser, tell them that you want to donate, and they’ll cut the ponytail off. To get the most length into your donation, you can get the hairdresser to take the ponytail in pieces so that they can get more length (e.g., in four quadrants of your head). Just make sure that your hair is totally dry when they cut it. Then all you need to do is put it in a plastic bag and mail it.

8

Thanks for all of these tips. My daughter has been growing her hair all through high school and has always said when she cuts it, she wants to donate her hair. I’m sure she has the required ten inches now, probably more…

She was going to cut it this past year, but decided to keep it long for another year…
Now she is saying she plans to cut it sometime this year, her senior year - but we never knew the details on how to do this.

I like the sounds of the Pantene Program - I’ll let my D know.

9

My D was told that dyed hair cannot be donated. True?

10

My D has done it twice through Locks of Love–sent it in herself. Then she read that they don’t really use most of the hair they get. Not sure if she wants to do it again. To see how this works, read here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/locksoflove.asp I don’t really have a problem with them selling hair and selling wigs to run their business, or knowing that a lot of donations get thrown away in the end. But it is not what a lot of idealistic kids think, “MY hair will be made into a wig and given to a kid with cancer!” No, usually not.

11

After reading that link, I have to wonder, who the heck sends in gray, wet, or moldy hair???

12

I did hear about no dyed, permed, or grey hair, that’s not an issue for my friend.

Thanks for the snopes link, Locks of Love is still being considered. Yes, we do know that kids with cancer don’t get wigs from Locks of Love.

(on an unrelated note, there have been some articles about the charity Kars4Kids lately. Our local billboards and airwaves are bombarded with commercials for them, and I always wondered where the money went.)