Do you have long undamaged hair that you are tired of combing every morning? You should consider donating it to people with long-term medical hair loss then! Many salons offer free haircuts to donors and the donated hair is sent off to a non-profit organization called Locks of Love (LOL), which was organized solely for children with long-term hair loss.

Madonna Coffman, a retired nurse whose daughter developed alopecia (loss of hair) just like her, along with the volunteer Board of Directors weaved the path for LOL. The organization receives about 2,000 donations every week in which 80 percent of the donors are children. Usually, six to ten hair donations are used for one hairpiece because the shorter pieces of hair cannot be used.

"I donated my hair about a year ago and I did it at this place called Isa's [Isa's Salon and Spa 1401 Castro Street]," junior Chelsea Lam from South City High said. "I felt like I did the right thing."

Donating hair not only makes the donor feel good but also brings up the self-esteem of the recipient.

"It helped with her self-esteem," Lam said when asked about her friend who went through chemotherapy because of ovarian cancer. "She felt more comfortable because it felt and looked more like real hair than her synthetic hairpiece did."

Another salon in San Francisco that is registered with LOL is Great Clips in Diamond Heights. Hair must be at least 10 inches long and not bleached or chemically damaged (it can be permed and colored though) to be donated. Also, the hair cannot be swept off the floor and is, preferably, kept in a bundle.

In order to receive a hairpiece, a child must be nominated by someone such as a parent, nurse, friend, or doctor. An application is filled out and sent to LOL along with two recommendation letters, a one page essay about the child being nominated, a photo of the child without his/her hair, a copy of the child's medical diagnosis and a copy of his/her parent's tax return.

Once the child is approved, it takes the manufacturers between four to six months to make the child's hairpiece. A molding kit is sent to the child so that the child can make a plaster cast mold of their head. From the mold, a trial fit cap is made to ascertain that the mold was made correctly and has the right shape. Once the fit cap is approved, the child gets to choose the color and length of his/her new hair. When the child finally gets the hairpiece, every strand of hair is the same length so the child can take it to a salon and get it styled the way they like it. Children are still growing and will eventually grow out of their hairpiece so children between the ages 6 and 18 can reapply for a new hairpiece every 18 months. Each child can have up to eight hairpieces.

"There are many people who are suffering so I wanted to help them," junior Linda Ancajima said. "I heard about Locks of Love on the news and since I had really long hair already, I wanted to donate it but unfortunately it was too damaged."

People like Ancajima who want to contribute but have damaged hair can help out the organization in another way. LOL pays approximately $1,000 for every hairpiece so they need financial donations. Donations can be made by using a Visa or MasterCard and filling out a contribution form. Also, there are items you can buy in which a portion of the profit goes toward LOL. For more information, visit www.locksoflove.org.