Hair Donations Uncut
What to Know Before You Snip
In July of 2005, Stephanie Dimot’s dad was undergoing treatment for lymphoma, and she wanted to do something to help him. “Instead of shaving my head to match his, I decided to cut my hair off and donate it in his name,” she said. Dimot had extremely long hair then and knew she had more than enough to donate.
A 20-year-old actor at NYU’s Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Dimot hadn’t cut her hair again since December of 2005 and expected to have it cut again during Thanksgiving break. A role in an As You Like It production set in the 1960s meant she would have to wait a little while longer. Her hair was so long, she said, “my split ends had split ends.”
Dimot had her hair cut December 27 at Image Creators in Severna Park, one of many salons that offer free cuts to people donating their hair to charity. “If my donated hair can help create something that eases someone’s journey through treatment, then I think that is one of the best gifts I can give,” said Dimot.
When talking about what it’s like to cut off pony tails for these ladies, Dimot’s stylist,  Andrea Bissanti, said, “It gives me great pleasure to cut an individual’s hair knowing they are donating to Locks of Love.” And, she explained that any nerves or apprehension are generally masked by excitement and the thought of a new hair style.
Quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to be charitable, growing hair long and donating it to organizations that provide wigs for children and women with serious diseases is relatively simple to do, and both young and old get involved, sometimes groups at a time.
Several organizations accept donations, and they vary widely in terms of the minimum length needed, whether gray or colored hair is accepted, and who receives the wigs created. Dimot chose to give send her six 14-inch ponytails to Locks of Love. “I’m not sure how I first heard about Locks of Love, but one of my friends donated previously, and I thought it was a wonderful idea,” she said.
Almost synonymous with hair donation, Locks of Love is probably the most well-known of several organizations throughout the country that accept donations of hair. The organization utilizes no advertising but receives as many as 2,000 donations a week, according to the New York Times. Lauren Kukkamaa, Communications Director for Locks of Love, says the group has “been very lucky to get some great national media coverage since the beginning” and says the organization is “very proud of the fact that 90% of everything we receive goes right into the program.”
While charities have been extremely successful at obtaining donations, their efforts to make use of all the hair have sometimes come up, well, short. In particular, Locks of Love, which sells some hair to offset wig manufacturing costs, has said that as much as 80% of its hair donations are unusable for its wigs, and many have wondered about their numbers—about 2,000 wigs donated since December 1997.
Hillary Swank and Diane Lane’s participation in Pantene’s “Beautiful Lengths” program has brought hair donation ever more into the spotlight recently. The program, aimed at women with cancer, has received 18,000 ponytails and distributed 2,000 wigs since fall 2007.
As Kukkamma points out, organizations’ missions and what they provide can be very different, and one isn’t necessary comparing apples to apples. She says many Locks of Love donors deliberately send in hair not fit for wigs use, knowing it will help the organization financially, while others simply aren’t familiar enough with LOL’s donation guidelines. “We’re a word of mouth, grassroots organization, and many times that can be a positive thing, but there can be negative impacts as well,” Kukkamma said.
“As a donor, you do really have to be sure you have understanding of what organization you’re donating to and what their guidelines are,” she said.
Before you get your hair cut, know the guidelines for acceptable donations to ensure your donation can be used. See chart below for organizations that accept hair donations to learn the dos and don'ts of donating.
Some salons provide free haircuts or a discount for people looking to donate their hair. Check the details with the salon of choice before embarking on this generous adventure. See the chart above for local salons that participate.
Pictured is Stephanie Dimot before and after getting her haircut at Image Creators in Severna Park.
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