by Bea Peterson
Hailey Rawling is only three years old. She didn’t mind getting her long hair cut, but she wasn’t thrilled about parting with the golden pony tail with the curls on the end that she got to hold in her hand. With just the slightest reluctance she put the shiny tresses in the bag to be mailed to Locks of Love.
How do you explain to a three year old that there are some kids her age, and older, who are very sick and don’t have any hair and her hair will help them feel better. Perhaps in years to come she will grow long hair and decide herself that she wants to give it to someone else. But on Tuesday she sat on her grandmother Deborah Rawling’s lap, and Wendy Larson of Everchanging Hair Styles gave her a beautiful new haircut, which she really, really liked.
According to the website, “Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.”