Alvis “Slick” Jones of the QNMS support group in Plant 23 is looking a little less “wooly” these days. He recently had a haircut that took off his ten-inch ponytail. While a haircut in and of itself may not seem like news, the reason for the haircut is definitely news worthy.

Slick grew his hair out to donate it to a group that makes wigs for children with medical conditions that result in hair loss. “I read the article in Southern Accents a couple years ago about Jim Thompson donating his hair to the group, so I got some more information on it and decided that I would do it,” Slick states. “I went to their website and checked them out, and it seemed like a good thing. I decided that I would grow out my hair then cut and donate it to the group.”
Locks of Love is the organization that Slick is referring to. Plant 23 Engineer Jim Thompson portrayed Jesus in a play at his church a few years ago, and grew his hair out to fit the role. Once the play was over, he donated his hair to Locks of Love. This is where Slick found out about it.

Locks of Love was started in 1997 in conjunction with a for profit wig making company but eventually separated as a stand along entity. Their first year 21 wigs were made from donated hair, but that number has grown with over 1,000 being donated last year. The process begins when a parent, nurse, friend or doctor nominates a child who is suffering from long-term or permanent medical hair loss. The application requires two letters of recommendation, a diagnosis, a photo and a copy of the parent's most recent tax returns. Applications are usually turned around in one to three days of receipt.

When a child is accepted into the program, they are sent a molding kit and instructional video, which shows their parents how to make a plaster cast mold of their head. During the casting process, they draw in a hairline and point where their crown would begin.

Each hairpiece requires 6 to 10 ponytails because the shorter lengths cannot be used.
Once the long hair is prepared, our manufacturer blends the colors for the child's hairpiece and sends it along with the foam head block to their factory in Indonesia. At the factory, a surgical silicone skullcap, colored to match the child's skin tone, is made from the head block.

A hairpiece of this quality would retail between $3,500 and $6,000, but Locks of Love provides the hairpiece at no cost, or on a sliding scale depending on the financial situation of the recipient. Even though hair is donated, there is still a considerable cost in the manufacture of the hairpiece. Locks of Love tries to offset this cost through charitable donations.

A local salon participates in Locks of Love and offers a free haircut to anyone who donates their hair, but Slick still tipped his hairstylist $10 anyway. “This is a good organization that does a lot of good. Children with serious illnesses have enough to worry about, without the added issue of their hair. All I had to do is let my hair grow, so it wasn’t any big deal to me. I was glad to help,” Slick adds.

To find out more about Locks of Love see Slick in Plant 23 or check out their website at www.locksoflove.org. What have you got to lose except ten inches of hair!