new thread
Hey everyone, I just wanted to let everyone know that after researching alot into Locks of Love, I just felt the need to help out with the children with cancer so I decided to give up my long hair so that a child with cancer could have hair. It wasn't just a splurge of the moment decision, it was something I have been thinkin on for a few weeks now. In the end I am very satisfied with myself because I was able to help a child with cancer and give them some hope. So in closing yes, the deed is done, and I had the chance to do something I had always wanted to do, which was try shaving my head completely bald. So I got the chance to do that as well as help a kid out, so I am pleased. I WILL grow my hair out again at a later date however.. This will benefit me for now aswell due to my construction inspecting job so I am out in the blazing sun all day every day... so I know Ill be happier at work. Anyhow... Keep growing guys, I will begin again at some point, No guarantees when it will be though, maybee if I can get out of the field work and into an office at some point.
I will still check on the board every so often but if anyone wants my email it is m_sieron@yahoo.com
Ack Im bald! Im being told I look good though, Im still trying to get used to having no hair haha.
Grats on your decision. At the very least, you can be comfortable at work.
.
Wow, Matt... that's really an admirable thing you've done. I can't think of many reasons for a guy to cut his long hair, but that's definitely a good one. Kudos to you. I hope you are liking the bald look -- it looks good on you, IMO. I hope you'll stick around and let us check on your progress when you start growing your hair out again.
The photo is me from my bald days, BTW... probably six, seven years ago.
peace,
dino
Hi Matt,
let me express LOTS of respect for you - giving up a part of yourself because you want to help a noble cause. I also hope you feel comfortable with your new look; I agree it can be pleasant in hot weather. We have a saying "Einen schönen Mann kann nichts entstellen", i.e. Nothing can disfigure a handsome man ;-)
Matt, I hope I'm not offending you with the following paragraph, I just want to ask whether the following things (that would be among my reasons for NOT even considering this kind of step) are true. I remember some info posted on this site several months ago to the effect a) that "Locks of Love" still has lots of unused hair in storage, b) that wigs are not available for men or boys (because they feel that it is "socially acceptable for boys and men to be bald"), and c) that their wigs for young girls are not made of human hair but of synthetic hair instead. What remains is adolescent or adult female cancer patients (well, that's certainly a worthy case, too). - Does anyone have still have the links for these statements? Or can anyone refute these bits of info that I remember having read?
I still do hope that your donated hair (which is of exceptionally high quality as I remember) will receive preference in being processed into a wig - that would be for adolescent or adult women.
Again, my deep respect for your selfless attitude, and my apologies for having elements of a "spoil-sport" in my post.
Hans-Uwe
Hans-Uwe, I revisited the official Locks of Love website today to confirm what I knew about the orgainzation. Their FAQ page answers some of your questions- http://www.locksoflove.org/faq.php
Real hair wigs are made for boys although there are fewer requests made. Any child under 6 gets a synthetic wig since their head grows so fast. Any hair under 10 inches is sold, as is hair deemed unsuitable for children such as white hair. The socially acceptable bit about bald boys only comes up as their supposition why more girls than boys request a wig, not who they serve.
However we are still left with a lot of questions- exactly how many hairpieces have been made each year, how much of the hair they get is sold, what the value of the donation ends up being. I used the Guidestar.org site to view the tax returns of Locks of Love. The most recent was for 2004 and there was a reported income of $352,401 from sale of 'unusable' materials. That seems like a lot of money paid for merely short or grey hair unless 'unsuitable' also includes surplus hair.
LOL reports 2000 donations of ponytails a week and claims all wig requests are met, there is no shortage of hair for their work. Their press release says they have helped over 1000 families since 1997. The 2004 Guidestar information mentions 1700 in information provided by LOL, still that is not many but they have helped all who ask and meet the financial and medical requirements. In the manufacturing section of the LOL site it is explained 6-10 ponytials are used for each wig.
Okay, 1700 families (some have gotten several wigs as they outgrow but others get a fake hair wig so I'll just go with this number as an assumption) times 10 ponytails at the most going into a wig means a need of 17,000 ponytails over their entire existence. Huhh, they get that in little over two months. Where does the rest of the hair go then? If it is being sold and only earning about $3.39 per ponytail ($352,401 income in a year divided by 104,000 ponytails a year [2000 per week X 52 weeks]) that is not much.
Where Locks of Love really falls down in my view is their lack of information to counter the misperceptions out there. Even news accounts often mistakenly identify LOL as a 'wigs for cancer patients' service. That helps drum up contributions since everybody knows cancer patients can lose hair during treatment and there is a lot of cancer out there. The majority of hair loss due to cancer treatment is temporary, the only cancer patients served by LOL are those whose raditation to the brain stem left them permanently bald. The bulk of their services go to children with alopecia aretata, a more common cause of baldness. While it explains this on their press release page and elsewhere it deserves a prominent mention on the FAQ list also.
Another area that can be improved is their reputation among people with long hair. LOL could tell people that nobody is helped by self-appointed people pestering others for hair donations, that sets LOL's cause back rather than helps goodwill among the people that have the most to give if they choose. One way to stop this would be to emphasize that LOL already has more hair than they use, LOL benefits from money donations more than hair.
What Locks of Love does is a good thing, certainly we all agree here that hair can be an important part of a child's identity. Where I disagree is how LOL goes about it. Also, if I want people to respect me and not tell me how I should make charitable donations, the same is owed to others and I have no wish to criticize anyone who choses to donate to LOL.
Elizabeth
P.S. Matt, your desire to help others is a good thing. Since you went completley bald another organization you might want to look into if you do it again is St. Baldrick's (stbaldricks.org) which raises money to benefit cancer research for children.
Free GuideStar registration gets you access to LOL tax returns
Hi Elizabeth Regina,
thanks so much for taking the trouble to place all that info together! You must have spent quite a bit of time. This confirms my view that while the cause would still be worthy, major critical points do remain.
You wrote:
I haven't been able to access the info from guidestar with a free membership, and I wasn't willing to pay for more extensive reports. Nevertheless, this is what I found on Wikipedia (o.k., we know that it is possible to post lies on Wikipedia, but then, it is also possible to correct lies on Wikipedia):
"Locks of Love has received criticism for its practice of selling donated hair, rather than using it in wigs as the donors expect. In general, hair contributed by Americans is unsuitable for wig manufacture. The reason is that their hair is damaged by frequent washing, the use of styling products and dyes, and the heat from hair dryers and irons. - Guidestar noted in a 2005 report that Locks of Love receives over 104,000 donations of hair each year, but has created a total of 1000 hairpieces since 1997. In response, Locks of Love asserts that six to ten hair donations are required for each wig. At ten donations per wig, 1000 wigs would require only 10,000 donations. That still leaves over 90,000 donations unaccounted for.
Considering your info that they sell unusable or excess ponytails for ~3.39 a piece, that indeed doesn't make it easier for them.
Nevertheless, Matt sacrificed a piece of himself in order to help others, and that speaks volumes about this great guy.
Best wishes to all,
Hans-Uwe
P.S. Matt, will there be a 2008 update? ;-)
To be honest I am unsure when I will begin growing it again, but I will at some point. I most likely will keep it short or keep the bald look for a while, since it is blazing heat all day while I am involved in the construction world. Who knows.. someday :-)
Don't forget that you should definitely be applying sunscreen on your head now.
And reapply every 3-4 hours too.
I'd be hesitant to call $3.39 "information" when really it is guesswork that is not substantiatable. In any case the documented 350 thousand dollar sales in a year figure is enough to give any donation pesterer pause. Besides, no child is getting a four foot long ponytail donation that makes the talk shows, something that valuable is worth the most to the fetish market. I'd be interested to hear who the buyers are that LOL finds.
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth Regina,
I think the point is, we're right in discouraging donations to that particular charity in the future. And, your point about the possible fetish market value, well, that's been way underestimated, but here again, we're probably limited to speculation.
Thanks for raising these points!
Hans-Uwe
I've read a few adverse things about LOL and I certainly won't be donating my hair to that so called charity. But good for you if felt it was the right thing to do.
John.B
Matt
Your heart couldn't have been in a more honorable caring place and I applaude you for reaching out to help others through a charity. And yet, the very words of John.B above ring so true to my ears.
Justin
Don't cut your hair just to donate to to LOL. According their own stats, they only use 1 out of every 100 ponytails to produce a wig. (1%)
Some of the the decent hair they sell. The majority gets thrown into the trash.
All the wigs are not free to the families. They charge according to the economics of each family. LOL charges up to $2000 for wig (yet some families receive them free of any charge).
If you're cutting your hair anyways and you have the most outstanding quality of hair, then why not send it to them for the slight chance that it might actually help a child. But if donating your hair is the only reason to cut it, then I would seriously reconsider.
They state right on their Web site that what they really need are cash donations.
