Briana Cuts Her Hair For Locks Of Love

Briana Cologna, 10, began her summer vacation by getting a haircut. Not just a trim. Briana had 10 inches cut off to donate to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

The daughter of Robyn and Dan Cologna of Newtown, Briana had planned the haircut for a long time.

“She wanted to donate her hair last summer but it wasn’t long enough,” said Mrs Cologna said. “She’s been letting it grow all year so she would have enough to donate this summer.”

Briana said she heard about Locks of Love, then her mother found the website www.locksoflove.org where Briana saw the before and after pictures of the recipients and read their letters. She felt bad for the children who had lost their hair and wanted to help them.

“You have to have ten to 12 inches of hair to donate, so I had to let it grow a few more inches,” Briana said

Pam at Scissors Hair Salon in Fairfield cut Briana’s hair, first putting it in a pony tail to anchor the swatch at one end. When the cut was done, Briana’s hair was chin-length. But she liked the result and, besides, she knew she could always grow it again.

 “My hair grows really, really fast,” she said. “I could do it again.”

Briana will be a fifth grader at the Reed Intermediate School next fall.

The hair salon offers free haircuts for anyone who would like to donate their hair. They usually do five or six of these haircuts a week. The salon phone number is 259-6261. Locks of Love has a listing of other salons on their website where the free service is available.

 Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses –– wigs and hairpieces –– made from human hair help to restore the children’s self-esteem and their confidence.