Donating Hair For A Good Cause. Define Good.

How long does my hair need to be?  Which organization is best?  Can I donate colored hair?  So many questions out there pertaining to donating your hair for a "good cause".  But, is it really a good cause?

FIRST AND FOREMOST please, please, PLEASE decide in advance which organization is best for you.  I encourage you to write the address on the envelope YOURSELF and mail it YOURSELF.  Sometimes hair samples, donations, etc can get mixed up in the back room of salons.  Sometimes us stylists will save hair from clients to do color experiments and test strands.  You do not want your precious hair that you have been growing out for years to get mixed in with that accidentally.  Plus, YOUR HAIR DONATION IS ACTUALLY WORTH A LOT OF MONEY. Hair pieces and wigs made from caucasian hair are the rarest and most elite and expensive.  It is estimated that each wig/hairpiece is worth over $1,500. 

The most publicized and popular organization is LOCKS OF LOVE.  They provide human hair and synthetic hairpieces and wigs for children under 18 with alopecia areata, which is an auto-immune disorder that causes hair follicles to shut down.  It is a rare occurance that a child with cancer receives one of these wigs, which is a common misconception of this organization.  Only about 3 percent of their wigs are for kids with cancer.

 The idea is that they provide wigs for children who's hair will never grow back.  Unfortunately, the wigs they create are not necessarily free.  It will be subsidized based on their parent's income.

  Another misconception is where your donated hair goes.  EIGHTY percent (!!!) of donations are deemed ineligable for use on wigs and are SOLD. Ineligable hair would be hair that is "not healthy enough" meaning it has ANY damage from blow drying, flat ironing, products, color, etc.  They also claim to accept gray hair donations, but those are SOLD AS WELL.  So, beware of donating here unless you don't mind the 80 percent chance that your hair will be "sold for a good cause". 

In order to donate to Lock of Love, your donation must:

be 10+ inches
have never been bleached or highlighted (color and perm is ok)

Another highly publicized organization is PANTENE BEAUTIFUL LENGTHS.  They provide human hair wigs for women who've lost their hair from cancer treatments.  Pantene as a company covers the cost of making the wigs from the donated hair and then they in turn DONATE the wigs to the AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY who gives the wigs to these women FOR FREE.  I called to check!  Nobody pays a cent.  If the hair is deemed un-usable, it will be sent back to you.  No hair-selling here!

In order to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, your donation must:

be 8+ inches
have never been treated with haircolor that uses ammonia or peroxide.
have never been treated with chemical perms or relaxers
NOT be more than 5 percent gray.

WIGS FOR KIDS is a lesser-known organization.  They have an amazing website that lists donation-certified stylists all over the country.  There are 500+ stylists listed on there.  I like that feature... these stylists will be able to take one look at your hair and know if it is good enough to be used on a wig. And they will properly package the hair and band it.  The founder of this organization was actually a pioneer in wiggery for children as children ar far more active than adults and have different needs.  The wigs are adhered to the head and are specially fit to an actual mold of each child's head.  When the child swims, the hair looks as real as everyone elses.

Wigs for Kids provides FREE wigs to children suffering hair loss from chemotherapy, radiation, alopecia, burns, or any other documented medical condition. They only provide for financially strapped families that cannot afford wigs otherwise.

 In order to donate to Wigs For Kids, your donation must:

be 12+ inches

have no chemicals, no coloring, etc (although temporary, wash out color is ok)

So there you have it.  There are other, smaller organizations that take hair donations as well, but do your research first.  God Bless all of you that are able to grow out and donate, either to these kinds of organizations, or privately. 

also, I would like to note, this might be my first ever post without swears.  My 90 year old boss who is also my editor of this blog will be impressed. Thumbs up to me being a classy bitch today!  (oops)