Donating Hair for Cancer Victims

If you want to do a good deed but don't have the time to spare to commit to volunteer work, donating hair for cancer victims could be the solution. It won't take up all your time on the weekends, but it's still a way to show that you care.

Donate hair for cancer patients.

When a person loses their hair due to cancer, they sometimes feel they've lost their identity. What results is a lack of self-esteem and lowered spirits. Isn't it nice to know you can help combat those feelings to some degree in a patient? That's why donating hair for cancer victims is so beautiful. It doesn't just give them hair — it gives them confidence. Donating hair to create a natural looking wig will also allow patients to go on with their lives without waving a big "I'm sick" to the rest of the world.

There's a pretty good cross-section of the population eager to chop off their long locks in order to help kids with cancer have one less uncomfortable thing to deal with (baldness). Salon customers, students, etc., respond to the call for hair. If you look online for donation information, chances are you'll see everything from news articles about kids having their ponytails cut off in exchange for a free haircut and the knowledge that did something wonderful to help someone else feel a little more like themselves, to older adults asking if they can donate gray hair.

If your salon doesn't participate in a hair donation program, that doesn't mean you can't donate -- or even that you have to search around for a new salon. You can mail in your own ponytail. Chances are your salon is equipped to send your hair in. Some collect batches of ponytails and then make one shipment.

Locks of Love needs all hair types from all types of people—all hair colors (except gray), textures, and so on. If your hair is long, you should be able to donate. You can even donate your permed or colored hair (as long as it's not damaged). The only real stipulation is how long the hair has to be: ten inches, but it also has to be sent as a ponytail or a braid.

How It Works: You give your hair to Locks of Love. Once it's been transformed into a beautiful, natural looking wig, it's given to a child who wouldn't be able to afford one otherwise.

This is a Canada-based organization that provides kids with wigs made of real and synthetic hair. The wigs are custom made from ten to twelve ponytails. They will even visit the child themselves if he or she can't go in for the wig fitting because of the illness.

As you'll notice, most organizations that collect hair for wigs are created in order to benefit children rather than adults. This one is no exception. Wigs for Kids asks for at least twelve inches of clean, dry hair in a ponytail or braid.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths’ requirements are not as high as some of the other organizations'. Hair only has to be eight inches long, not ten as with Locks of Love. Other guidelines: if you've bleached your hair or used permanent dye on it, you can't send it in. If you used vegetable dyes, rinses, and semi-permanent hair color, you can.

Have your hairdresser put your hair in a ponytail to cut the length off, then you can take it home and get it ready to mail. Put it in a zipper baggie, stick that in a padded envelope, and off it goes. Visit the website for all the details.

Donated hair goes through more than you might think between your head and the wig recipient’s. Here's the breakdown:

1. Your hair is put in a ponytail, cut, and mailed in. Hair is then sanitized using chemicals. This strips the outer layer, too, to prepare it further for the wig. It's ready to have the shorter hairs separated out and to be blended with others' ponytails to make one wig.
2. Once the 20-30 ponytails are blended together to make one wig, the child's head is measured using a plaster mold. With this type of measurement, the wig will look as natural as possible, conforming to the shape of the head almost perfectly.
3. Using the mold, the foundation for the wig is made from materials safe for swimming, playing, and just being a kid. The hair is finally put into that foundation — slowly (it takes 60-85 hours).

Voila! Your hair is now a portion of a child's wig.

View the Wigs for Kids website for pictures.

Donating hair for cancer victims can be quick, easy, and rewarding. Knowing that your trimmed locks are helping someone else smile can make your shorter style look even better..

• Hot Hair Styles for Guys
• Hairstyle Ideas for Curly Hair
• Short Hair Cuts Pictures
• Hair Removal Quiz
• Healthy Hair Quiz

• Emo Hair Styles
• Emo Hair Style Pictures
• Layered Hair Styles
• Pictures of Emo Hair Cuts
• Short Hair Styles

• Long Hair Care
• Gray Hair
• B12 Hair Loss Vitamin
• Biotin Hair Loss
• Gallery Very Long Hair