News Editor
On a chilly Saturday afternoon, senior Alison Dombroski decided it was time to get a haircut.
Not just any kind of haircut either.
“I’m cutting my hair for Locks of Love,” Dombroski said cheerfully.
According to their website, Lock of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the U.S. and Canada. All of the children are under the age of 21 and are suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any kind of diagnosis.
“The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.”
While Dombroski has personally never suffered through any type of long-term medical hair loss, nor has anyone close to her, she was still drawn to the organization and wanted to help.
“Growing your hair is so simple and so easy,” explained Dombroski. “It grows so fast. It’s not like I’m never going to have it again. People going through cancer or any other type of disease don’t have the option to grow out their hair as easily. They go through so much pain, and the least I could do is give them some of my hair.”
It also helps that Dombroski just so happens to be a red head. While thousands of people a year do Locks of Love, being a red head is definitely a minority.
“I’m so excited for there to be another ginger,” Dombroski said with a laugh. “I get so many compliments on my hair color.”
While Dombroski showed no fear on the way to Master Cuts in the Eastfield Mall, some unexpected jitters may have kicked in once the hairdresser started to braid her hair before the big cut.
“No fear,” Dombroski said as the scissors were being prepped.
According to Mackenzie Murray, a hairdresser at Master Cuts, people come in all the time requesting to do Locks of Love.
“It’s pretty common. We get a good amount of people that come in regularly and donate as much as they can. I’ve definitely cut off a lot of ponytails for Locks of Love.”
While there are some requirements to donate your hair to Lock of Love, the organization isn’t too picky.
“Basically you can have colored hair, but you can’t have it bleached out. You need at least 10 inches to donate, and it needs to be reasonably healthy,” explained Murray.
Overall, the entire experience for the hairdresser and the participant cutting their hair is very rewarding.
“Sometimes people freak out about cutting all of their hair off, but they feel better about it once they’ve done it,” Murray said.
After hearing the initial Locks of Love prep, in one swooping motion, over ten inches of Dombroski’s hair was gone. Just like that.
After several more minutes of styling and layering, the cut was completed.
Dombroski had definitely accomplished her good deed for the day.
“I feel great,” Dombroski said as her new do bobbed and bounced around. “I cut my hair for a cause and that’s awesome. I’m happy. It was so simple to do.”