How to Donate Your Hair

Cancer. It’s an ugly word. And to countless children and adults alike, it often means undergoing chemotherapy, as well as other treatments to battle this deadly disease. One of the many side effects of Chemotherapy is that a person’s hair falls out. This may sound like a trivial side effect, considering the serious nature of cancer. But, to a child’s or adult’s emotional and mental well being, having a head full of hair can mean a world of difference to them. Having hair, even if it’s a wig), just like they had before the disease struck, can help a cancer patient feel more like themselves. It can boost their confidence and help fuel their will to survive. You can help these people out right now, if you know how to donate your hair.

A non-profit organization called “Locks of Love, Inc.”, has been helping cancer patients since 1997. The first year that Locks of Love was in business, it was able to collect enough hair to have twenty-one wigs manufactured. Today, the organization receives more than two thousand donations of hair every week. Not surprisingly, most of the donors are children who want to do their part.

You can do your part too. And, it’s really very simple. And quite painless. All you have to do is donate your hair when you get it cut. Locks of Love accepts hair from any gender and from any race. You can be any age too.

Ideally, the hair should be real, and not synthetic, and it should measure at least ten inches long from tip to tip. Locks of Love can use hair that has been colored or permed to help provide wigs for chemotherapy patients. However, they cannot use hair that has been bleached or damaged by chemicals. Even long braids of human hair that has been stored away can be used by this nonprofit organization.

The hair needs to be clean and dry, and rubber banded together on one end. Then, to donate your hair, it should be placed in a plastic bag. Then, all you have to do is place the plastic bag inside a padded envelope. You’ll need to visit their website at http://www.locksoflove.org/ to download their “Hair Donation Form.”

Once you have the hair you want to donate securely packaged along with the donation form, just send it through the mail to:

Locks of Love
2925 10th Avenue North
Suite 102
Lake Worth, FL 33461
Phone: (561) 963-1677
Fax: (561) 963-9914
Toll Free: (888) 896-1588

Note: If you donate your hair and it’s shorter than ten inches long, or it’s gray, it can’t be used to make wigs for cancer patients. HOWEVER, Locks of Love does sell this hair to help fund the manufacturing of the wigs.