By Amy Batista, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — A local teen is letting them take a bit more than “a little off the top” in order to donate hair for Wigs for Kids.
“About six months ago, I was at the hair salon and told my stylist of my intention (to donate hair),” said Elizabeth Lanphear, 17, in an email. “She informed me that Locks of Love still charges the recipients thousands of dollars for the wigs, from a personal experience. I thought that this was ridiculous so I did some research on other organizations.”
She said the two that she found were Wigs for Kids and Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths.
“Both produce wigs that are free for the recipients,” she said. “However, I decided to go with Wigs for Kids because I still wanted to donate my hair to little kids and Pantene creates wigs for adults.”
When children lose their hair, they don’t just suffer physically. The change in their appearance can drastically undermine their self-image and sabotage their self-esteem. To help heal the pain of these struggles, Certified Cosmetic Therapist Jeffrey Paul founded Wigs for Kids, a nonprofit organization that has been serving children suffering from hair loss since 1981, according to its website.
According to its website, Wigs for Kids is a cooperative effort among Certified Cosmetic Therapists throughout North America who share a common goal.
“Children shouldn’t have to worry about how they look, especially when they’re in the middle of a health crisis,” said Jeffrey Paul on his website. “We want to give these kids the opportunity to feel good about themselves again.”
The value of each hair replacement is $1,800, according to the website.
“These are custom-made hair replacements,” Mr. Paul said. “Each prosthesis is hand-tied and is made completely from human hair. We make sure they look just like a child’s own hair. They won’t come off on the baseball field or in the playground. Kids can count on them. And because kids look just the way they did before, they feel better about themselves. They look in the mirror and their eyes light up. To see that light in their eyes-that’s priceless.”
Elizabeth first began donating her hair when she was in fourth grade.
“I decided that I wanted to donate my hair,” she said. “I had heard about it from a teacher or friends. So I grew my hair out from fourth grade to fifth grade and donated 10 or so inches to Locks of Love.”
She said it was a decision that she felt really good about so she decided to grow it out again.
“It took much longer this time because I was starting from a much shorter length,” she said.
She said before she cut her hair this time it was 30 inches in length from the roots.
“I had 15 or so inches cut off and my hair is now 14 inches long, so I lost about an inch from the stylist evening my hair out,” she said.
She said had her hair cut on Dec. 10 at the Regis in Quakerbridge Mall.
“I came home from school and just felt that I absolutely had to get it cut that night, so my wonderful mother drove me over to the mall because it was the only place still open,” she said. “I had told her that if we couldn’t get to a salon, I would cut it myself, and she didn’t like the idea of that, so she ran me over to Regis.”
Participating in this program is an exceptional experience, she said.
“I get to experiment with having both long and short hair and I also get to help out children, who are unfairly assigned to such awful ordeals,” she said.
She said the hair is being used, along with other donations, to create wigs that closely resemble the natural hair of a child so that they feel more comfortable.
“I am so happy to have finally cut my hair,” she said. “Not only will I use less shampoo and conditioner, I get to take shorter showers which are a great way to conserve water as well.”
She encourages anyone with the ability to grow their hair out to participate in this program.
“Wigs for Kids require donations 12 inches or longer but Pantene accepts donations as short as eight inches,” she said. “I know that I am so fortunate to have lead such a healthy childhood and I feel that it’s only right that I try to help, even in as small a way as cutting my hair, kids who weren’t so lucky.”
