In about two months, I’ll make a trip to a salon and donate a long ponytail of my pin-straight dirty blonde hair as I get my a professional haircut for my new teaching job. I’ve already donated my hair three times, and when I realized how long my hair was getting, it was only natural that I would donate it again.
A lot of people who I’ve spoken to about hair donation have personal reasons for doing it. Some have had cancer themselves and now want to give back to the companies that supplied them with a wig, others have had friends with cancer and made donations in their honor. They had concrete reasons, intentionally growing their hair for upwards of two years and setting “chop dates” months in advance of the actual haircut. I, however, don’t have any personal connection to hair donation, and I made my first donation on a whim. I walked into the salon for a routine trip and then, after my stylist commented on how long it was, I made a snap decision to donate it. So right then and there, I chopped ten inches off and mailed it out the next day.
That night, as I brushed my hair before bed, I had a small moment of panic as the hair brush stopped right above my shoulder. “What have I done?” I thought as tears began to well up in my eyes. I suddenly missed the long hair that was too easily tangled. And while I was standing there in my little puddle of self pity, my younger sister came into the room and said “I think what you did was really cool because now a little girl is going to wear your hair because she doesn’t have any.” And she was so right. My hair would grow back, but to a little girl with alopecia or going through chemo, there was not hair to grow back, only wigs made of hair from people who donated their own. So I stopped crying and started thinking about making sure my hair was healthy enough so I could grow it out to donate it again.
Hair donation is pretty simple. Some salons offer free haircuts if you’re donating your hair, others will mail your hair out for you. On almost all occasions, all you have to do is make a regular hair appointment and let your stylist know that you’re donating when you get there. Your stylist will then measure your hair in a ponytail (or more, depending on how thick your hair is) from the tip to right above the hair tie—most charities require at least ten inches of hair, but some take as few as eight. When your hair has been measured and you’re happy with the length, your stylist will then cut your ponytail right above the hair tie, keeping all of the hair together. After it’s all been chopped, it’ll be cut to a more even style. Here’s a video that shows the process.
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My first two donations were made to Pink Hearts Fund, the charity from which my hairdresser’s daughter received a wig while she was undergoing chemo treatment for leukemia. As well as accepting hair donations, they offer wigs at reduced prices or free of charge for women and girls through generous donations. The accept ten inch ponytails or longer.
My latest donation from my sophomore year at Kenyon was to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which accepts ponytails of eight inches and donates exclusively to women experiencing hair loss due to chemo treatments. They also sponsor events during which you can donate with your friends!
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Other reputable charities for hair donation include Wigs for Kids, which supplies wigs for boys and girls at reduced cost, and Hair We Share. When considering which charity to use, please remember to do your research. As popular and well-known as Locks of Love is, the company actually doesn’t provide wigs to cancer patients, nor does it provide the wigs to their applicants at a reduced cost. I’ve chosen to avoid Locks of Love in favor of more ethical charities.
As the summer approaches, I look forward to my fourth big chop. There is something so satisfying about holding your ponytail in your hand and knowing that it will go into a wig that will help someone suffering from hair loss regain their confidence. And as hard as it is to part with some of my hair, I know that it’s so much harder for a little girl to watch her hair fall out during chemo. So for all of you beautiful people out there with enough length, I encourage you to consider donating. It’ll make a difference to someone.