In August of 2001, my friend Maureen, at the very young age of 23, passed away from cancer. During her 5 year battle she had lost her hair and turned to Locks of Love for a wig. When Maureen passed away, I went right to my salon and had 11 inches chopped off and donated it to Locks of Love in her honor. When you are battling cancer, it is so difficult to feel beautiful, especially when you are a teenager and are bald. Locks of Love is a great program and I am so happy to help Nexxus and Locks of Love spread the word about their recent partnership.
Nexxus Salon Hair Care and Locks of Love have partnered through a unique program to educate women and men about the proper way to donate hair to the charity, ensuring that all the hair sent is usable.
Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides wigs and hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 who suffer from long-term medical hair loss. All of the custom hairpieces are made with hair donated from individuals.
Nexxus Salon Hair Care, with Locks of Love, created an easy-to-follow, brief video tutorial to educate interested donors and their stylists on the proper steps to donate. The video can be found at www.Nexxus.com, and the following are the main steps.
· Hair must be at least 10 inches from tip to tip.
· Hair must be secured in a ponytail or braid before it is cut; and the cut must be made above the hair elastic.
· Hair must be clean and completely dry before it is mailed.
· Ponytail should be placed in a plastic bag and then into an envelope.
· Include the hair donation form you find at www.LocksofLove.org so they can acknowledge the donation.
Hair donors each give something of themselves and do so with the best intentions. Although requirements are listed on our Web site, many don't understand the importance of the 'how-to' or the 'when-to,'" said Locks of Love President Madonna Coffman. "That's why we were thrilled when Nexxus approached us with this wonderful idea of making it even easier for donors to see first hand what's acceptable and how to donate."To date, Locks of Love has provided more than 2,000 children in all 50 states and Canada with hairpieces. Most of the children who receive hairpieces suffer from a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cure.
At Nexxus, we believe that beautiful hair should be everyone’s right; that’s why the work that Locks of Love is doing is so essential," said Gina Lazaro, Senior Director of Marketing for Nexxus. "Our hope is that with this video we answer some of the lingering questions about the right way to donate hair and, thus, ensure that all the hair donated to the charity is put to good use."In addition to producing the video, Nexxus made a donation of $10,000 to the organization to help defray operating costs and to help fund research in finding a cure for alopecia areata. Over the past two years Locks of Love has expanded their efforts in the search for a cure by awarding research grants to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
The video is available for viewing at www.Nexxus.com; Locks of Love provides a direct link from their home page, www.LocksofLove.org.
