What do you think of when you first hear the words donation? Food? Clothes? Blood? How about hair? Yes, you saw correctly- hair. Although not unheard of, it’s not as common as the typical answers given above, though this type of donation can emotionally help its recipient as blood can help physically.

Now I’m not telling you that donation those such as bone marrow and food aren’t important, but not everyone is suffering from fatal losses which are believed to take over any other type of loss. For instance, although important, the disease Alopecia is not as completely advertised as such cancer is. Alopecia is the #1 cause for hair loss which Locks of Love receives its recipients from. As for cancer, (the #2 highest reason they receive hair donation requests) has about 2,200 children in just the U.S. get a brain tumor which results to hair loss. (Information given on the Locks of Love website) Speaking as a survivor myself, I can very much inform you that any one person around can have or have had it and make you realize just how common it is.

Now there are many adults who walk with their head held high with no hair. This can be a signal of saying “I’m a survivor. I’m human. I’m just like you.” Although these brave people are clear role models for society, not all adults may have the courage to do the same. Along with these people are children. Children do not understand how to react in certain situations. If people are talking about them for looking different, how are they to react? These types of organizations help raise the self esteem of all types of people and greatly assists them in being able to express their inner beauty once comfortable enough to face the world as more of an equal.

Some of you may be thinking, “Shouldn’t they worry more about their sickness rather than how they look from it??” Well, though they have the disease, they will have to face the real world. As said previously, many children get affected with this type of loss. While they do have this illness, it does not necessarily mean that everyone in the world has to know. This situation can take on a very serious emotional toll for anyone and everyone who goes through it. As the creator of Locks of Love said, it was one thing for her to have Alopecia, but it was a complete other once her daughter had gotten the disease.

This is a very personal matter, and kids should not have to feel abnormal from their peers because they lack a physical quality which is taken advantage of on a daily basis. Let’s be real now. Children can be cruel, judgmental, and base thoughts of a person based only on first impression. They should not have to feel misplaced or not have a chance to once be heard because they look slightly different. Although I used to be a beyond-shy child, it was never because of my appearance. I understand how lucky I was to have grown all of my hair back before beginning my education years and also see how not all people are the same way.

In a very mini survey for parents, all agreed that they wouldn’t be comfortable with their child being self conscious simply because of one small lack in their looks. One parent says, “Usually, I’d tell my child that that’s life and that everyone goes through issues similar to it…but not everyone has cancer or whatever where they lose something that everyone else has. I just can’t tell them to suck it up and move on. Try telling that to a 3 year old. How do you think they’ll handle the problem?” Another parent says she’d rather not have everyone feel sympathy for the child just because s/he looks a bit different from the other kids.

However, people are heard asking why these organizations exist if there are many synthetic wigs in your local drugstores. Well, many more common wigs can very easily be removed from the wearer’s head and cause an unnecessary situation, not to mention they can be very irritating to the scalp. Organizations such as Locks of Love have vacuum sealed wigs so that only the wearer may remove the wig at any time they please. Locks of Love states that “Children can dismiss insecurities about classmates pulling off their hairpieces, or losing it during sports.” They can do many activities with it including swimming and cutting and styling it to suit their liking.

If you would like to help these thousands of people worldwide and make a difference to at least one life, you yourself can donate a lock of your hair to make a wig made of real human hair. So how does it work? Well all you have you do is make sure you’re willing to donate a specific amount of hair. One organization which I always donate my hair to is Locks of Love, which accepts at least 10 inches of hair. You can give your hair even if it is dyed or permed, but not if it’s in dreadlocks or bleached. To read the whole list of requirements you can go to the official Locks of Love website (www.locksoflove.org). Why not take a chance to do something like this? We get haircuts anyway; we can might as well help an amazing cause while receiving a great new look.