Giving the gift that keeps on growing

Alessandra “Alex” Marandola, 6, smiles as she shows off her new haircut, and 10 inches of hair she donated to Locks of Love, cut by Melody Sissel of Hair Designs Unlimited in Princeton. (Photo contributed)

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

PRINCETON — Your first haircut can be a big deal — especially if your hair will be a gift to another child who needs it.

Alessandra “Alex” Marandola, 6, of Dover recently made a big decision to get her hair cut for the first time. Her brown hair had grown so long it had begun to brush the backs of her legs.

Every morning Marandola’s mother, Lucy Taylor, would make a long braid down her daughter’s back, ensuring she wouldn’t come home from school with her hair in one big knot.

One day, Taylor told her daughter about Locks of Love, and asked her whether she’d be interested in donating her hair to another child.

“I told her about it and she thought it was cool. She’s never met a child with cancer or who had a serious illness, but I think she understands enough. I told her there were kids who were sick and their hair had fallen out,” Taylor said.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. According to its Web site, 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.

On Aug. 18 the shy little girl with long brown hair and brown eyes took a few giant steps into the hair dressers chair.

Silently and patiently she sat and watched pieces of her hair fall to the floor as Melody Sissel, of Hair Designs Unlimited in Princeton, cut off 10 inches.

“Her hair is up to her shoulders now. She loves it. She loves her hairdo and she likes that she gave it away,” Taylor said.

Sissel said she sent the hair in a ziplock bag in a padded envelope with Marandola’s name and address included. Usually the person who donated their hair is sent a thank you card from the organization, Sissel said.

“I do this about two to three times a year. It’s done a lot more now because people are more aware of it. I encourage people to do it. I usually don’t charge when I cut the hair, because it’s being done as a gift. It’s a really wonderful, wonderful thing,” she said.

Marandola is now in first grade at Jefferson Elementary and is enjoying her new haircut to go along with the new school year.

She is the second member of her family to donate hair — her cousin Becca Taylor, 6, of LaMoille recently donated to Locks of Love, too.

“Before she had had it trimmed but never really cut. It was a big thing. She was a little bit nervous. Now we just run a brush through it in the morning and we’re done. She loves that. But now she wants it even shorter,” Taylor said laughing.

Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.