Would You...Could You...Do This???

[precious2Him]

Absolutely I could. I'm enjoying my healthy hair journey to waist length but it is not that serious. I have cut off all my hair before and will probably do so again. It will grow back and I like the way I look with various hair lenths.

I agree. I would do it. My hair will grow back and in the end I will be helping someone who can not grow their hair and maybe help someone's self-esteem, I think that would be awesome.

 

[JustKiya]

erplexed Really??? How do you know this?

They spell it out on their website that they sell the wigs on a 'sliding scale' according to the families finances.

I would suspect very few families dealing with an ill child has the extra loot to toss 3K at a wig, vacuumsealed or not.

ETA: Just to make it clear, I have nothing against cutting off your hair, and giving it away, if that's what's clever in your world. I have an issue with Locks of Love, specifically.

This thread here (with the numbers that you WON'T find on Locks of Love website anymore....... ) is what soured me.

 

[sonce]

They spell it out on their website that they sell the wigs on a 'sliding scale' according to the families finances.

I would suspect very few families dealing with an ill child has the extra loot to toss 3K at a wig, vacuumsealed or not.

Wow! I did not realize that they were selling any of those wigs. Their marketing is very slick because I've seen their reps speak about what they do and it is always presented as this donation of wigs free of charge. Well, I'll have to look for some other group to donate to when I'm next ready to cut my hair.

 

[JustKiya]

Quoted from the above mentioned [URL="http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=60453&highlight=locks+of+love"]thread[/URL]....

They seem to have edited their website, so that they removed a lot of the numbers that we put together to figure out what is going on.

From this page http://www.locksoflove.org/press.html They say that they were founded in 1989, and that they have served "over 2000" children. For the math, I'll say 2500, since that's the next number they're likely to round off to. The total is probably under 3000, or else they've said "over 3000." Since they were founded in 1989, they've been in existance for 17 years, in which to do this work. Some of the children probably have gotten more than one wig, so lets say, 3000 wigs.

In a previous version of their website, they said they recieved 2000 hair donations a week. However, they probably didn't get so many over their whole existance (starting from zero), so I'll say an average of 1000 per week, over their existance.

At some point they posted that they needed 6-10 donations per wig. I'll go with 10.

So these are the numbers I'll use to figure out how much hair goes into the wigs:

1000 donations a week
10 donations per wig
15 years
3000 wigs


1000 donations a week x 52 weeks in a year x 15 years is 780,000 donations.

780,000 donations, with 10 donations per wig, would be hair for 78,000 wigs.

They've probably made about 3000 wigs, from donations sufficent to make 78,000. That is about 3.8% of the hair recieved going to wigs.

That's a scam, at least from the hair donors point of view.

People are donating their hair to go into wigs, not to be sold, thrown out, or left sitting in a warehouse. People are being pressured to cut their hair for donation, by people who think the hair will go into wigs for sick kids.

Locks of Love is saying "give us your hair, we'll make it into a wig for a sick kid." And overall, that's a lie.

And it is a lie that leads to many of us being pressured to cut our hair when we don't want to.

And that's why many people here don't like Locks of Love

Also, in case you think the longhairs might be biased, here's more information about Locks of Love....

 

[tiffers]

After I reach my goal and enjoy it for a little while, I plan on donating my hair. I think it would be fantastic to give to a child who needs it. I have fun with my hair journey, it'll grow back. No biggie.

 

[tiffers]

Nappywomyn, are there any other charities like Locks of Love? I want to donate my hair, but not to them!

 

[JustKiya]

Two more things, and I'm done...

1) They don't give the wigs (the few they do give away) to kids with cancer/undergoing chemo, as that is considered a 'temporary' hair loss.

2) This I would chop my hair off for - and there are no 'restrictions' about what kind of hair you can donate, and it's helping a world of people - literally.



ETA: Other charities are:
Patene's Beautiful Lengths

Wigs for Kids

 

[Amber_moon]

I so agree with this. A freind of mine told me that when she was working at the hospital, she heard numerous stories from parents of kids in the oncology dept. that had tried to get wigs for their children from locks of love and coulnt afford them.

In my opinion Locks of Love = LOL

 

[sonce]

Quoted from the above mentioned thread....



Also, in case you think the longhairs might be biased, here's more information about Locks of Love....

Two more things, and I'm done...

1) They don't give the wigs (the few they do give away) to kids with cancer/undergoing chemo, as that is considered a 'temporary' hair loss.

2) This I would chop my hair off for - and there are no 'restrictions' about what kind of hair you can donate, and it's helping a world of people - literally.



ETA: Other charities are:
Patene's Beautiful Lengths

Wigs for Kids

What you posted is appalling. I am so disgusted with Locks of Love and thankful I saw this thread. I was considering donating 20 inches of hair and was discussing this with my boyfriend just this week! I would have been sooooooooooo mad if I had donated first and then found this all out later.

 

[ladylibra]

no i wouldn't donate to Locks of Love... i have considered donating once i reach my terminal length/get sick of growing my hair out.

i chopped mine down to 2 inches and i have all this hair after 2.5 years... that's including trims and several cuts. i'm not afraid to have short hair and i will have fun growing it back out.

 

[cheeks87]

If I was plagued with fast-growing hair that accumulated more than 12 inches a year regardless of what I did to it, I would willingly and joyfully donate 12 to 18 inches of hair without question!

I kid you not in high school I'd see white girls cut their hair to their chin and by the end of the school year that crap would be MBL. I don't know how they do it. They would complain about how fast their hair grows and how they have to pay so much to keep getting it cut. There was this one Asian girl who cut her hair to her chin at the beginning of the school year and by the end of the school year it was past her waist.

I don't think anyone wants my hair but I guess that's "self-hating". Shoot if my hair fell out, I'd ask Locks of Luv to get me some Asian girl hair. Not gonna be blow-drying and flat-ironing my wig, no siree.

 

[Blackbird77]

Yes I could and I have planned to for many years now. All they require is 10 inches.


Come on. If you are a black woman then you know full well that hair is a big deal to black women, and that many black women due to ignorance and improper hair care have a hard time growing their hair.

AND, I wanted to add, a lot of black women's hair isn't in all that great a condition due to ignorance in taking proper care of their hair. If it wasn't for this website, a lot of us would still be doing harmful stuff to our locks and still wondering why our hair won't grow or looks see-through. Many of the heads of hair I see on this board are very healthy looking and could be used for this purpose.

 

[lovenharmony]

If my hair grew fast....possibly I would

 

[chicacanella]

Yesterday, I was in the hair salon (a unisex, multi-cultural salon). I noticed 2 white women seeing other hairstylists who came in with waist-length hair. By the time I got back to my hairstylist's chair after a shampoo & deep conditioner under the hair dryer, their tresses were shoulder length. They had cut off their hair to donate to 'Locks of Love,' a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces made of genuine human hair to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 who suffer from medical hair loss (ex. cancer patients, burn victims, alopecia sufferers, etc.).

This got me to thinking, so I have 2 questions:

(1) All of us are on a journey to grow our tresses. Would you...could you...after reaching your hair length goal, then cut off your hard-earned length as a donation for needy children unable to grow/maintain any hair at all?

(2) We all talk about how Black women are fully capable of growing long, thick, healthy hair, just like other ethnic groups. So then, why are the people who donate hair to 'Locks of Love' overwhelmingly of other ethnic groups? Why don't more Black women donate to this needy cause?

I wouldn't mind. Once you know you are genetically capable of reaching a long length, it is just a matter of patience to let it grow back out.

 

[chicacanella]

ABSOLUTELY True!! I knock Locks of Love every time I can, as they are a scam, getting women to send them their hair under the impression it will be GIVEN to needy children, and instead they turn around and SELL it (sliding scale or NOT) to kids....



Give time, give money, but keep yo danngone hair!

Oh no. After finding out this, I don't think so.

 

[carrie]

I don't think I could do it. I've never been past shoulder length.

My BF (who is Polish) donated his over a year ago. They got about 30" from him. His was to his butt when he cut it. I was so jealous.

 

[chicacanella]

Some interesting comments...so I actually looked up the Locks of Love website. Some information you may not realize: they give away hair pieces free or charge or sell them on a sliding scale based on financial need. The reason why is because these aren't just weaves or things of that nature. These are hair prostheses for children with long-term or permament hair loss. They're custom made to fit the child's head to form a vacuum-seal, eliminating the need for tape, glue or other type of attachments/adhesives, and each strand of hair is hand injected into the silicone base up to 150,000 times for a more realistic-looking hairpiece. The vacuum seal means only the wearer can take off the hairpiece, providing a sense of security that allows kids to regain their self-confidence (don't have to worry about other kids pulling off the hairpiece, losing during sports, etc.). Prices (when sold vs. given away) can range from $3,500 and $6,000.

Whew! That's steep...especially for a family that may already be financially strapped due to the child's medical condition. On the other hand, L.O.L. does seem to incur a lot of expenses in making these realistic hairpieces, and as we all know, money doesn't grow on trees. They're a non-profit organization, so hopefully all the money they do make is going right back into operating expenses...

That doesn't make sense to me. If a person can pay 3500 dollars, then why not just go to a regular wig making place like coolpiece where they can custom fit it too.

And also, I've seen pics of the wigs and the density and everything is too "off" to be paying that much money. They look like kids wearing wigs, unfortunately.

 

[EbonyHairedPrincess]

Wait....Locks of Love sells the hair. Oh I'm p*****.

Just did a bit of research and found this link. According to one post, the child has to pay, write an essay and get a letter of recommendation from someone.

http://badhairday.typepad.com/bad_hair_day/2006/07/locks_of_love_i.html