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By Melanie Rubin
SAN DIEGO—It started when my then 7-year old niece told me that she was growing her hair long to give to children who don’t have any hair because they’re sick with cancer. Touched by her actions, I too wanted to donate my long hair.
I researched more about hair donations, and found Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that makes hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. The prostheses they create with the donated hair help the children’s self-esteem and confidence “to face the world and their peers." The hair donation needs to be at least 10 inches, and since I have had long hair almost all my life, this was not a problem.
I decided to make my first donation the day before my birthday in December 2005 as a present to myself-- a gift to someone else. My 12-year old cousin came with me to “hold my hand” through the experience, take before and after pictures and to videotape it. This new “do” took some getting used to since it was cut just a little above shoulder length!
Afterwards, I received a post card in the mail how I “went to great lengths to help a child” and was so touched by the whole
experience that I decided I wanted to do it again. In July this summer I was going on a trip to Israel, so this was the perfect time to do it! My mom was in town so she took the pictures and a video. She even saved a piece for a memento, as we had a little tradition going on between us.
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It started when I was 15 and I got my first “real” haircut; prior to that it was just trimmed! A friend of the family picked me up from summer camp for my brother’s bar-mitzvah and suggested that I get my hair done on the way. It took some convincing, but I figured I could always grow it back if I didn’t like it. I was shocked at first, but it wasn’t too bad! I saved some of the hair that was cut and put it in an envelope. When we arrived at synagogue, I hid in the back and could see my mom constantly looking around to see if her friend had dropped me off yet. When it came time for the Oneg Shabbat, I handed the envelope to a friend to give to my mother as a joke. Well, when she opened it and saw that it was my hair, I popped out and she was definitely surprised! Ever since then, whenever my mom or I get our hair cut in a “major” way, we send each other a little “lock of love."
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