Shear delight for 33-inch ponytail donor
Hair today and gone tomorrow for Cara Armstrong, donating her locks of love to Angel Hair and Wigs for Kids for child cancer patients suffering from hair loss
Cara Armstrong grew out her hair for six years to make a donation to an organization that provides wigs free of charge to children suffering from hair loss.
It’s something that’s easy to donate, Armstrong said Friday as she had a 33-inch braided length of hair cut off at Michael Angelo’s Hair Styling on Sherbrooke St.
“When it comes to hair, there are no needles, there are no operations,” she said.
When Armstrong, 29, started growing her hair out six years ago, it was with the intention of giving it to an organization that makes wigs for children.
She admitted that as it got longer she’d occasionally get annoyed by the inconvenience, but she said she kept pushing herself to let it grow longer for the donation.
Armstrong is going beyond making the donation of hair to Angel Hair for Kids. She has put together an information package on donating hair for children suffering from hair loss that she will be taking to hair salons in the city. She wants to help others donate.
Angel Hair and Wigs for Kids make full and partial wigs for children who have lost their hair from cancer and diseases as well as for burn victims, Armstrong said.
“They make medical-grade wigs,” she said.
Armstrong said she has lost an uncle and a grandma to cancer.
Armstrong said it takes about 10 to 12 donated ponytails to make a wig and each wig costs the organizations more than $800 to $1,000 to manufacture.
Wigs for Kids accepts any healthy hair as long as it’s 10 inches long or longer and it’s not bleached, permed or in dreadlocks, she said.
While she’s promoting donating hair for wigs for children, Armstrong is also informing salons on how they can use hair clippings collected off their floors to help with oil spill cleanups.
She’s pointing hair salons to Green Circles Salon in Toronto and the Matter of Trust organization in the United States.
Volunteers have used hair for oil-absorbing mats and booms, she said.
Michael Arcaro, hair stylist and owner of Michael Angelo’s Hair Styling, said he has encouraged clients who are having hair cut off to donate it.
“I’ve had a few clients who have come in and donated their hair, but never that long,” he said of Armstrong’s 33-inch braid.