Sooooooooo… how long has your hair grown during the COVID-19 pandemic? From March 2020 until August 2021, I didn’t get a single hair cut. I just kept pinning up my ever-lengthening hair in a bun clip. My hair was one thing I didn’t have to worry about, in a world full of much bigger worries!
But in August 2021, I was finally ready to go into a salon and get it all chopped off. Before I did so, I did some research about how to donate my 10+ inches of hair to a good cause. I had donated my hair once before (in 2007), to Locks of Love, which is a well known and well respected charity that makes wigs for those in need. But this time, I decided to go with Children With Hair Loss.
Rebecca Harrington wrote a super useful article for Business Insider in 2019 called, “I’ve donated my hair to charity 4 times. Here’s what you need to know if you want to do it.” Rebecca details all the research that she did to make the decision to go with Children With Hair Loss this time around. She asked the American Cancer Society to recommend the best organizations for hair donation, and the ACS recommended five organizations, including Children With Hair Loss. Rebecca’s article has a fabulous table that compares the five organizations’ requirements.
So how can you choose? For me, one of the most important factors was the minimum length. It’s always good to donate as much hair as you possibly can, because the longer the better for weaving into wigs. But even though I had been growing out my hair for more than one year, I only had about 10 inches to donate! I wanted to avoid a situation where my hair was not quite long enough and therefore would have to be thrown out. Children With Hair Loss accepts all donations at least 8 inches in length, which meant my hair donation would definitely be used. And they help kids all over the country who have lost their hair due to medical reasons, without charge! According to Regina Villemure, the founder of Children With Hair Loss, “CWHL takes care of any child with medically related hair loss free of charge every year until age 21 for free services and hair replacements.” That’s awesome!
It felt wonderful to cut off 10 inches of hair, but even more wonderful to know that my hair was going to help someone else in need. This is an easy way for all of us (men included!) to do something to help another person!
If you can, please consider also including a monetary donation to offset the cost of the wig production—you can donate to the general fund or to their annual (currently virtual) charity ball at the Children With Hair Loss website. And here’s the link to their hair donation instruction page, along with the PDF form to send along with your donation!
Thank you, Children With Hair Loss, for making the world a better place!