A new club at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School aims to help a charity that makes hairpieces to underprivileged children who have lost their hair due to medical conditions.
By: Chris Karmiol
Hair today, gone tomorrow is what some sixth-grade girls at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School are saying as they embark on an act of kindness and generosity.
With their music teacher Noreen Gumnick at the helm, more than 20 girls will be donating their hair to the Florida-based organization Locks of Love.
The charity provides custom hairpieces to underprivileged children who have lost their natural hair due to diseases such as alopecia areata, an auto-immune condition for which there is no known cause or cure, according to the organization. Other recipients of hairpieces include children who have suffered serious burns or have been subject to radiation treatments.
This week Ms. Gumnick held the first meeting of the Locks of Love Club at the Kreps School. In a classroom crowded with giddy girls, Ms. Gumnick measured the length of each girl’s ponytail. Locks of Love can only use hair donations at a minimum of 10 inches long.
While some girls will be more than ready for donation this June with ponytails already surpassing the 12-inch mark Ms. Gumnick said the rest plan on making the donation next year at the end of seventh grade.
Though girls often take great care to ensure their hair is long and healthy, this group seems ready to be sheared. In fact, for some of the girls this will be their second donation. They realize that there are girls who need the hair perhaps more than they do right now.
"I think it would make them really happy," said one girl who is a second-time donor. "People really think about how people look."
Custom hairpieces, such as the ones Locks of Love donates, can cost upward of $3,000, according to the nonprofit organization.
The hair-raising drive has become such a buzz around the school that even parents and teachers have gotten in on it. Ms. Gumnick said that she originally wanted to donate too, but her hair is highlighted. Locks of Love cannot accept any chemically processed hair.
Although Locks of Love also donates hair to boys in need, the group said that girls are its main clients. How would the Kreps girls react if they saw someone sporting their hair?
"At first I think it would be kind of funny seeing someone walking around with my hair," said one redhead with a long wavy mane. "Then I’d feel really good about myself for helping someone."