Locks of Love

Locks of Love was founded in 1997 after Madonna Coffman, who suffered from alopecia, found that her 4 year old daughter had developed the disease as well.
Madonna, a nurse, had contracted the disease from a hepatitis vaccine, and was treated and cured, but her daughter was not. Mrs. Caufmann took on her daughter’s loss as her crusade and started Locks of Love out of her garage, storing mail and hair donations in bins. Finally, after securing an office space and a manufacturer for the prosthetics, Locks of Love was ready for business. Locks of Love has blossomed into a fully functioning and famous non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children under 18, who suffer from a long term medical hair loss. “The prosthetics help to restore the children’s self esteem, confidence, and enable them to face the world and their peers.”- Locks of Love website. The organization’s mission statement reiterates the point- stating their mission is to: “return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children."
Since its inception, over 2000 children have had hair made into hairpieces and wigs and donated to them by Locks of Love. Many of these children had been teased, or embarrassed by their lack of hair and the negative attention they receive because of their hair loss. Children who are embarrassed and teased often withdraw from social activities, so with the help of the hairpieces, they are able to participate in the social activities that they were unable to, or felt too uncomfortable to participate in before.
Locks of Love serves a special purpose for these underprivileged children. Most wigs sold by retailers, are made to fit adult heads, and are much too big for children to wear. The styles of adult wigs are often not age-appropriate, and synthetic wigs can mat and frizz with excessive styling. The prosthetics that Locks of Love gives are made from real human hair that is donated to the organization and is custom made to fit each child’s head. The wigs would retail from $3,500 to $6,000, and form a vacuum seal to the wearers scalp, like a suction cup, so that no amount of running or playing can cause it to come off unexpectedly.
Anyone can donate hair to Locks of Love, and anyone can cut hair to donate as well. As long as the following rules are followed:
The minimum length of hair donated must be 10 inches. Layered hair can be donated, as long as the longest layer is 10 inches. Hair CAN be colored or permed, and can be cut years ago, as long as it has been stored in a ponytail or braid. Hair that has been bleached, shaved off, in dreadlocks or swept off the floor is not useable.
For specific instructions on how to prepare your hair for a donation, how to enlist a local salon or enlist YOUR salon for a Locks of Love donation drive and instructions on HOW to submit your hair for donation visit www.locksoflove.org.