Donating your hair to cancer patients

Apr 20, 2012 11:40 PM by Kori Ellis

Posted in SheKnows Cares / Community & Human Services

Many patients lose their hair due to cancer treatments. When a person loses their hair, they often lose some self-esteem too. That's why donating your hair to create a natural looking wig for a person in need is such a great idea.

Hilary Swank before and after

Oscar-winning actress Hilary Swank grew her hair long and healthy specifically to donate it to the cause. She cut it herself (on Oprah, no less) -- and you can see how she looked a couple months before and after in the photos at right!

Donating hair for cancer patients is both easy and rewarding. You will feel good knowing that your short hairstyle has helped out someone who really needs it.

If your local hair salon doesn't have a hair donation program, you can still donate by sending your hair yourself through the mail to a national program.

If you want to donate, here are some hair donation programs that always welcome more contributors.

Locks of Love

Locks of Love takes all different hair colors and types, except grey. Your hair needs to be at least 10 inches long and sent in as a ponytail or braid. Locks of Love uses the hair to create natural looking wigs for children that would not normally be able to afford one. Visit locksoflove.org to watch a step-by-step video on how to cut, package and send in your hair.

More for donating 10-12 inches:

Angel Hair Foundation
This organization donates wigs to children statewide in Oregon who have lost their hair due to medical conditions. They accept a minimum of 12 inches of clean, dry hair in braid or ponytail. Color-treated and gray hair is accepted, but not preferred.
Chai Lifeline
This organization accepts a minimum of 12 inches of dry hair or 14 of full-length wet hair cut into a ponytail. Color treated and/or gray hair is accepted. Donations can be mailed to their New York office.
Wigs for Kids
This hair donation program creates free wigs for kids. They require at least 12 inches of clean dry hair in a ponytail or braid.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths

Beautiful lengths is a hair donation program in both the US and Canada. Hair must be at least 8 inches long. It can be colored with vegetable dyes and semi-permanent hair color, but it can't be bleached, permanently colored or otherwise chemically treated. It also can't be more than 5 percent grey. Visit Beautiful Lengths to learn more about donating your hair to women in need.

More for hair donations under 10 inches:

Hair that Cares
This organization accepts a minimum length of 8 inches of hair braided into four separate ponytails, with rubber bands securing both ends. Color treated, processed, and gray hair are accepted. Hair donations can be mailed to their New York office.
Children with Hair Loss
The mission of this organization is to improve the self confidence of children who have medically-related hair loss. They accept clean, dry hair secured in a ponytail at a minimum of 8 inches in length. Color-treated and/or gray is accepted. Learn more on their website, and find their tips on mailing hair donations.

More cool ideas and information about hairstyles

Styling hair while it's growing out
Short and sassy hairstyles
See hundreds of celebrity hairstyles

Photo credits: Starbux/WENN, Adriana M. Barraza/WENN

Tags: charities hair

Comments

Comments on "Donating your hair to cancer patients"

im 51 years old and had a stroke my hire relley long and id love to help out a kid fell better about them self in anyway i can i have no gray hair im hopeing and praying it long enough becouse long hair a pain in the butt cant wate to cut it if only i could do more

so i want to donate my hair were do i have to go i live in edinburg, Tx. I'm 16 years old i hope that i can help

How would I donate hair?

We are going to Hair Club for Kids to get a wig for my daughter. They don't charge at all for the wigs as all the others do. I don't see here how long your hair has to be for a donation. I will have to ask when I get there.

I have got long hair of 36 inches (nearly a metre). I would love to donate my lovely hair(I have not colored and no greys) for hair less kids. I want to know the address to donate my hair.

How can i donate my hair?

I have been growing my hair out to donate, I lost my cousin to brest Cancer a few years ago and my Aunt has fought it now. So I would like to donate in Canada and only see address for the US.Please let me know where to send it.I have just cut it.It is in a pony tail and clean.Non treat/non colored hair.I am a red head.Thank you in advance.

Im thinking to cut my hair and donating it but i want to now were can i donatd to the closes place next to corpus christi , tx Or San Antonio,tx

to someone who really cares, I have lost at least 3 generations to cancer. In particular, I watched my mother deteriorate and unwilling die scratching and clawing for every minute she could have a chance to be the mother she waited 42 years to become. I have 15+inches of healthy but colored,permed and chemically altered hair. If I could offer dignity for 1 day, I would shave my head to the skin to know I helped. It is my duty to help create a wig. I watched mother use colored,chemically treated hair and it offered her a sense of beauty and normalcy she would not have had otherwise. I would truly like to help and do this the right way. The women I have met do NOT care if there has been chemical alteration, to have even imperfect hair offers normalcy and to have a wig that adds physical, tangible appearance of normalcy is priceless. Please direct me to someone who understands this. It is more important to me that most people can not comprehend. Thanks your for consideration., -M

I would like to donate my hair for kids with cancer but i just dont know where . I would love if someone could help me figure out a place to donate my hair to a place where they woukd make the wigs for kids with cancer. Thank you

i would love to donate my hair just dont know how or were to go if you can give me some information i will greatly appreciated

I have in the past, donated three ponytails (over 10" long) of my never colored or permed, wavy hair, to cancer centers in Texas. Now I'm in California, 71 years old, have Norwegian hair (gray and striped at the front, auburn in the back, and down to my waist). I'd like to donate it to be kept the color it is, with healthy wishes for the wearer. It does have gray in it, but not a lot, several tones of auburn (red in the sunlight). It's well over 10" long. Please tell me where I can send it where it will be appreciated.

My 7 year old came home one day and asked if she could donate her hair to someone with cancer. Very Sweet and thoughtful so we let it grow and just got it cut today. She has 11 inches. I would like to know where a good place is to send her hair. I would love to send it to some place local. We live in Labadieville, LA. If there is no place in this area we will send it to Locks of Love. Thanks

@Cristina, this may be too late, but there is a non-profit called the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which raises money for pediatric cancer research and you shave your head to promote solidarity between kids with cancer and people without it. They aren't directly affiliated with any hair donation organizations, but you can donate before you shave. I'm a sophomore in high school, and in 2 weeks I'm shaving my head for St. Baldrick's, and donating about 16 inches of hair to Wigs for Kids (I prefer their free wig policy, over Locks of Love where patients have to pay for the wigs). St. Baldrick's is an AMAZING foundation, that works hard every single day to find cures for cancer!! They've raised over $103 million since 2005. Check them out here: www.stbaldricks. I'm so glad to be a part of the St. Baldrick's family, and can't wait to shave the way to conquer kids cancer!

I would like to donate my hair where I can go? Thank You, PAtricia

You can send your hair donation to pantene follow the link below http://www.pantene/en-US/PanteneBeautifulLengths/Details/beautiful-lengths-make-the-cut.aspx OR http://www.pantene/en-US/Documents/BL_instructions_US.pdf Also there is organization CHILDREN WITH HAIR LOSS for donating your hair. http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us/donate-your-hair/ OR http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CWHL-HAIR-DONATION-FORM-2012-11-2.pdf

I was happy to read the information on "Hair That Cares" so that I can donate 8 inches of my color-treated hair for women/children who need it...I have searched for an address for this organization so that I can mail it and cannot find one. Help, please!

My daughter and I want to shave our head for this cause. It's something we have been considering for a while. We live in Durham, NC and have tried to check on cancer research sites but don't seem to find anything.

Cancer has affected my family in several ways. My sister had leukemia when she was in elementary school. Many of her classmates said some very mean comments to her to because she lost her hair due to radiation and chemo treatments. Also, my dad lost his battle with cancer last year. Some people just don't understand what cancer does to your loved ones, until it affects them. Recently I have been growing out my hair in the hopes to donate to someone going through any type of cancer. Currently my hair is 4 inches long, and although it is not quite long enough yet I want to plan ahead to make sure I meet all the requirements. Please help me donate and give me information about donating my hair.

Hi Danielle, if you'll take a look in the article above, all of the suggested resources accept color-treated hair, so I'm sure they'd be thrilled to receive your donation. Thanks for coming to SheKnows for information on donating your hair!