Factoid: 80 percent of donated hair is unusable for wigs. www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi- wnwire_hair_donate_0919sep19,1,4319992.story
chicagotribune.com Charities overflowing with donated hair By Elizabeth Hayt New York Times News Service September 19, 2007 A stream of girls in green T-shirts bustled into the gym at Seton High School in Cincinnati last May, scrambled into folding chairs and bowed their heads. As more than 400 spectators counted down, volunteers pulled the girls' locks taut into ponytails and, on cue, sheared off 8 inches, creating blond, brunet and raven pompoms that many girls shook and twirled. The newly shorn -- more than 200 students, siblings and friends -- had been preparing for this cut-a-thon for months, growing their hair for Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a charitable program that makes wigs for women facing cancer treatment. Jen Sherman, 16, a junior, participated because her mother and aunt died of cancer. "I did it for them, as a way to remember them," said Jen. "It felt really special." Forget collecting pennies for UNICEF or washing cars to raise money for hospitals. One of the most popular ways young people are contributing to charity these days is growing their hair long and donating it for wigs for children and women with serious diseases. It's not just teenagers. Biker clubs have organized cut-a-thons. The NBC news anchor Ann Curry lopped off the actress Diane Lane's mane on the "Today" show last year. But although charities have been highly effective at stirring the passions of donors, they have been less successful at finding a use for the mountains of hair sent to them as a result. As much as 80 percent of the hair donated to Locks of Love, the best known of the charities, is unusable for its wigs, the group says. Many people are unaware of the hair donation guidelines and send in hair that is gray, wet or moldy, too short, or too processed, some of which is immediately thrown away. Even hair that survives the winnowing may not go to the ill, but may be sold to help pay for charities' costs. Grappling with deluge At the headquarters of Locks of Love in Lake Worth, Fla., the hair deluge -- up to 2,000 donations a week -- can be daunting for the staff of six employees and 10 to 15 volunteers. "We created this monster because people get so much from it," said Madonna Coffman, the president of Locks of Love. "They ... feel they're going to help a child." Some donations thrown away Locks of Love sends the best of the hair it receives to a wig manufacturer, Taylormade Hair Replacement in Millbrae, Calif., which weeds through the selection, rejecting up to half. "We hate throwing it away, but ultimately we have to clear the place out," said Greg Taylor, the president and owner of Taylormade. "There is a disparity between the hundreds and hundreds of braids and ponytails and the number of hairpieces we've produced." Taylor sells the wigs wholesale to Locks of Love for less than $1,000. Since the charity began in December 1997, it has provided about 2,000 wigs to recipients for free or a reduced price. The group makes clear in its literature and on its Web site that most of the wig recipients are not children with cancer. Rather, they are children who suffer from alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that destroys follicles and results in hair loss. About 2 percent of the population, including half a million children, are estimated to have alopecia. But many alopecia sufferers seem unaware that they are the group's main priority; only about 10 apply for a wig each week, Coffman said. Many donors, too, seem ignorant or only partly aware of the group's focus. Maggie Varney, a hairdresser and owner of a salon in St. Clair Shores, Mich., said she was shocked to learn that hair she collected from her clients and sent to Locks of Love was not used for wigs for children with cancer. In reaction, she formed her own non-profit, Wigs 4 Kids, in 2003, which receives a few dozen donations of hair a month that are made into wigs that go predominantly to children with cancer. Two other groups also serve people with cancer. Pantene Beautiful Lengths, started in June last year, has the resources of Pantene, the $3 billion global hair product division of Procter & Gamble, including teams of publicists who stage cutting fests. Already the program has received 18,000 ponytails -- 8,000 more than originally projected -- and distributed 2,000 wigs to women with cancer, said Seth Klugherz, the North American Pantene brand manager. Big numbers Wigs for Kids, the oldest hair donation charity, was started more than 25 years ago by Jeffrey Paul, a designer and retailer of hairpieces. It receives 600 to 800 donations a month, he said, for wigs that usually go to children with cancer, but also to those with other medical conditions. The lesser-known charities receive less unusable hair than Locks of Love, which has become almost synonymous with the cause and attracts mass donations. Football player disappointed Former Chicago Bears defensive back R.W. McQuarters, now with the New York Giants, donated his dreadlocks to Locks of Love in March. He said he wished he had known that they were unacceptable for wigmaking and probably ended up in the trash. "I'd rather them send back the hair," he said. "I could have sold them on eBay and then taken the cash and given it to charity." In fact, all three of the children's charities sell excess hair -- in particular, the short and the gray -- to commercial wigmakers to defray costs. According to its tax returns, Locks of Love made $1.9 million from hair sales from 2001 to 2006, and took in another $3.4 million in donations. Besides paying for wigs, the money goes for overhead and other costs, including grants for alopecia research. The donations keep rolling in, perhaps because cutting off one's hair for charity is an altruistic deed that doesn't require a financial contribution, which may be why it appeals so much to children. It is also an intimate act that suggests an instant result, said Bennett Weiner, the chief operating officer of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, a national monitor of charities. "People like the feeling that their gift will be helping now," Weiner said. Most of those who give are adolescent girls, such as Eliza Stuber of Albany, Calif. At her bat mitzvah ceremony in July last year, she announced her intention to donate her brown tresses to Locks of Love. Lately boys and even men have gotten into the act, like Brennan Blomgren, 17, from St. Paul, Minn., who gave a foot of his blond mop to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. He also held a public cutting event for the charity in December at the Mall of America. Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
