Looking For Locks Of Love

When Newtown High School varsity cheerleader Stephanie MacKay participated in the recent Nonnewaug Invitational, something in the program book caught her attention.

It was a story about Locks Of Love, the nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the county who are ages 18 and under and suffering from long-term medical hair loss. The coach of the Nonnewaug High School varsity cheerleading program offered thoughts on the trauma of losing one’s hair due to medical reasons. Leeza Desjardins’s story was very personal; the coach had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had vowed to donate her own hair to the program.

On Monday, March 31, Stephanie and fellow NHS students are planning to travel over to Woodbury, where a Locks of Love cut-a-thon will be taking place at Nonnewaug High School beginning at 7 pm.

Donors should have hair at least ten inches in length or longer that will be cut. Because the majority of the children helped through Locks of Love are girls who want long hair, the organization uses locks of long hair more often than shorter hair.

The manufacturing process, according to Locks of Love, uses two inches of hair, leaving only an eight-inch length of a ten-inch cut.

“Most of our girls want hair 12 to 14 inches long, requiring donated ponytails of 14 to 16 inches,” according to the organization’s website.

When Locks of Love needs to manufacture a hairpiece for a boy, however, it can use some of the shorter length that have been separated from a shorter donated ponytail. The organization manufacturers headpieces for children, donating the custom, vacuum-fit hair prosthetics to children ages 6 to 17. Younger children receive synthetic hairpieces because of the rapid growth of the head within this age group.

To join the group heading to Nonnewaug High School on March 31 or for additional information, contact Stephanie MacKay at 426-4067. The high school is at 5 Minortown Road in Woodbury. To get there, follow Route 6 through Woodbury, past Canfield Corner, and watch for the right hand turn onto Middle Road Turnpike (opposite the gardening center). Minortown Road is 1/5 of a mile ahead on the left.

Additional information about Locks Of Love is available at www.LocksOfLove.org.