Hair for a Reason

Even if you’re not acquainted with Kathy Arnold, you might recognize her by her bright red hair. Today Kathy’s fiery ponytail ripples down her back, but the day is coming when she’ll happily cut it off. It won’t be swept out with the other clippings on the salon floor–that would be a waste. Instead, Kathy is growing her hair long in order to donate it to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to kids suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

The notion to donate her hair grew out of a scary personal incident a few years ago. When Kathy’s mother, Rose Jones of Spokane, had to be hospitalized, her daughter couldn’t be there with her but wanted to somehow send a part of herself. Kathy cut off her glorious hair, put it in a bag, and sent it to her mom in hopes that it would give her comfort.

Mrs. Jones took the hair to the hospital with her. The nurse who opened the bag and peeped in nearly needed medical attention herself. Once she recovered from the shock, she told Kathy’s mom about Locks of Love, and Mrs. Jones told her daughter.

Kathy’s commitment represents more of a sacrifice than you might think.When her hair gets too long and heavy, she starts getting migraine headaches. She recalls that as a child she was forbidden to cut her hair. Its weight, pulling on her head and neck while she played all day in the hot Tennessee sun, gave her fierce headaches. As soon as she grew up and moved away from home, she said, she “chopped it off.”

Recently, she’s felt the headaches threatening to return, so before they get too bad she’ll get it cut. When the big day comes, her employer, White Bear, plans to treat her to a session at a favorite salon.

Hair donated to Locks of Love must be in ponytails at least ten inches long; it takes six to ten ponytails to make one hairpiece. According to the organization, most of the requests they receive come from girls, and most girls would love to have long hair, so the longer the donated ponytail, the better–hence Kathy’s wish to let hers grow as long as possible. There’s more social acceptance of males going hairless, so there are fewer requests from boys. The most common cause of long-term hair loss is alopecia areata, a disorder for which there is no known cause or cure.

The hairpieces available through Locks of Love are not your average wigs. They’re vacuum-fit, natural-looking prosthetics that normally start at about $3,000. Locks of Love provides them either free or priced on a sliding scale based on financial need to disadvantaged kids from six to eighteen years old.

Locks of Love accepts clean, healthy hair of any color, from men and women, boys and girls of any age or race. Eighty percent of the hair donors are children. The organization receives an average of 2,000 packages of hair each week through the mail.

Kathy Arnold said she may let her hair grow long one more time after this “crop”–she hasn’t decided yet.

Incidentally, Rose Jones still has that hank of her daughter’s hair. She intends to donate it to Locks of Love eventually, but has found it hard to part with it just yet.

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