Kids donate hair out of shear pleasure

Everywhere you look, there are youth doing amazing things to make the world a better place. One of these great things is kids donating their hair to make wigs for cancer patients.

Seven-year-old Isabelle Taylor, of Coldbrook, had a personal reason for donating.

“Isabelle was looking at photos from when she was a baby and noticed that in all the photos of Gram and her, neither of them had any hair,” says her mom, Kristy. Isabelle wasn’t born with any hair and Gram had cancer, and as part of the treatment, they gave her medicine that made her lose her hair.

That led to a conversation about wigs, and how some wigs come from human hair, and that people can donate their hair so people with cancer can have wigs to wear. Immediately, Isabelle wanted to do it, says Kristy. Isabelle Taylor, seven, was proud to cut her hair to help make wigs for cancer patients.

Claire Cruickshank, 11, of Kentville, also had many people close to her who had had cancer and had to use wigs during chemo.

So both Isabelle and Claire started growing their hair to donate.

If considering doing this, before donating, do your research.

“You’d be surprised how many places will let you donate, and how varied the requirements are,” says Kristy. Find one that works best for you and your situation.

There are many options out there, and most are pretty clear in stating the parameters for their programs, as well as best ways for going about actually cutting the hair and keeping it all together, says Kristy.

One option, says Claire’s mom Tracy, is to first check with your hairdresser. From her research, Tracy can recommend a couple different websites to investigate, including Angel Hair for Kids, Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Locks for Love.

Hair must be clean and dry and in a ponytail or braid, cut just above the elastic, says Tracy. Place the ponytail in a baggie and then place the baggie inside a padded envelope to mail. Tracy says if you put your name and address inside the package, you even get a thank you letter back in the mail.

If you have more than one person donating hair, Kristy says to send the hair not only in separate baggies, but also in separate envelopes. When Isabelle donated her hair, she did so at the same time as her mom. Although not a big deal, she says they mixed up the cer- tificates because all the hair was in one envelope.

Tracy suggests preparing your child for the haircut.

“It’s a lot of hair to cut off all at once and if they aren’t prepared for it, then it could be a huge shock,” says Tracy.

Tracy says that although Claire has fallen in love with her new short hair, she would definitely donate her hair again. The same goes for Isabelle, who is already asking when she can donate again.

“I liked doing it because other people did it for my Gram,” Isabelle added.

Laura Churchill Duke (ValleyFamilyFun.ca) is so proud of all the boys and girls she knows who have donated their hair to cancer.