Locks of Love, a group effort

Both my girls have always sported long hair, mostly because I never seem to make time to go to the salon to get it cut. (And I was notorious for brushing hair my kids' hair on top of mountains and hiking trails when they were younger because I procrastinated that as well).

Now the girls take care of their own hair and don't like wearing it short. It was for this reason that L. let her hair grow so long before making her second donation to the Locks of Love program (her first donation was when she was 8). She wanted to ensure she had enough length to make the donation and still be able to put her remaining hair into a ponytail. The program requires a minimum 10-inch ponytail and it took L. a little over a year to grow the 15-inches she anticipated she would need to keep her own ponytail after the donation.

It turned out L.'s timing was just right to help out a fellow Girl Scout with her Silver Award. The cadet Girl Scout, J., organized an event at Bella Envy Salon in Yarmouth for girls willing to donate their ponytails to Locks of Love. J. spent a year getting ready for this event, which included encouraging girls to grow their hair as well as asking local businesses for goodie bag donations for all the girls who donated their ponytails. And the Bella Envy stylists graciously donated their time to cut and style each donor's hair.

L. had a great experience at the salon and enjoyed watching all the other girls get their ponytails cut too. Jenna emailed me the day after the event to let me know she had collected 18 ponytails at the salon! She had a few more in-the-works before she would be sending all the donations along to Florida where the Locks of Love headquarters is located.

After positioning the elastics to the required length, the stylist used a razor to make the cut, ensuring it would be even.

L.'s ponytails were a bit longer than 10 inches and she ended up with a cute cut that could still be pulled back in to a ponytail. She also commented it would be nice to have "light hair" for the summer (I think she meant because of the heat as well as the weight).

It became obvious to me after seeing several ponytail donations lined up how different hair really is. L. has very thick, wavy hair (her 2 ponytails are in the middle). It takes 6-10 ponytails to make a single Locks of Love hairpiece and according to the organization's website, most donations are made by children to help other children. That's an empowering statement to help kids understand that a small act of kindness can make a real difference in another person's life.

L. with the Girl Scout Cadet event coordinator Jenna after each had their hair cut. L. loved the goodie bag, which included a nice writing journal and a Locks of Love patch for her Girl Scout sash.

Learn more about the Locks of Love program...