Locks of Love

[pne]

I knew I had read somewhere [last question on that page] that Locks of Love might not be as lovey-dovey as they would like to be, but had forgotten where.

subbes has a number of links which may be of interest to those who were considering donating to Locks of Love.

Comments

[missysedai.livejournal.com]

Arrrrgh! How revolting!

One of my neighbor girls has been growing her hair out, whacking it off and giving it to LoL since she was in second grade. Her mother is always after me to do the same (it falls to the tops of my thighs), and tells me I'm "very selfish and cruel" for refusing.

I've printed out the info to give to her. I'm with subbes - leave my hair out of it!

[pne.livejournal.com]

Arrrrgh! How revolting!

*agrees*

Her mother is always after me to do the same (it falls to the tops of my thighs), and tells me I'm "very selfish and cruel" for refusing.

Like it's any of her business.

I like the way the person on this page (http://www.tlhs.org/faq.html) [right at the bottom] put it:

Thousands of long haired women are nagged by both well-meaning and mean-spirited people that they should give up hair they love in the name of this charity. This is just plain rude. Why aren't they giving their car away to a poor person, giving their home away to a homeless person, or selling their jewelry and other possessions to donate the cash to the less fortunate? To women on this site, it is NOT just hair, just as a to a car aficionado their automobile is not just a car that is disposable. Generally, our hair means more to us than it would mean to Locks of Love's intended recipients.

So tell her you'll donate to LoL when she gives her house to a homeless person and sells her car for cash to give to charity.

[leora.livejournal.com]

I don't see how most of this is in any way the fault of Locks of Love. Mostly it's people being stupid.

Their site clearly states that most of the wigs go to children with alopecia areta, and quite frankly that's one of the reasons I donated my hair. Those kids need it a whole lot more than kids with cancer do. And if anyone out there did give their hair thinking it'd go to a kid with cancer and is angry because it went to a kid with an autoimmune disease instead, well quite frankly I hope that person goes bald ASAP. How petty can you be?

Sure it's a problem if they're doing false advertising, but their web site is clear. I haven't seen them being misleading. Most of the comments are about other people acting evily.

If other people are pressuring you to give up your hair, then yes, they are stupid and mean. But that's equally true if they're pressuring you to give up your money. I don't see the difference. I donated my hair because I have no money to donate to any charity, but I could donate my hair. It was the only thing I had to give. So, what's bad about that?

They state on their web site that any hair they get that isn't usable will be sold. I knew going into it that also... It wasn't hard to find the information. It was all pretty clear on their site.

I think it's wrong to tell people they need to cut off their hair. But if you're going to cut it anyway, why not donate it to Locks of Love? Is there anything that actually says that's a bad thing to do? And I think encouraging kids to do it is great, because they also have nothing else to give. And if they can learn to think about helping others, that lesson is likely to serve them well throughout their life. But it should always be a choice.

[pne.livejournal.com]

They state on their web site that any hair they get that isn't usable will be sold. I knew going into it that also... It wasn't hard to find the information. It was all pretty clear on their site.

True; I had read that too when I had a look at their site some time ago.

I think the issue here is what proportion of hair is sold; if 20% of hair is sold rather than used, that's probably fine with everyone, but if it's 90%, that's not so cool (or is all that hair really unusable?).

If this page (http://give.org/reports/care2_dyn.asp?733) is true, then they provided 113 news hairpieces in one year, which seems rather low.

But if you're going to cut it anyway, why not donate it to Locks of Love? Is there anything that actually says that's a bad thing to do?

No, I think that's fine -- with the important part being "if you're going to cut it anyway".

It's more the people who think they're doing something good, and who wouldn't otherwise have cut off their hair, who may feel annoyed when they learn that there's a high probability their hair will be sold rather than used to help a kid.

And I think encouraging kids to do it is great, because they also have nothing else to give. And if they can learn to think about helping others,

Both of those assume that donating hair will be giving to a useful cause and helping someone; the links appear to suggest that while this is sometimes the case, there are many more cases where this is not so. (See, for example, the back-of-the-envelope calculation in one of the links based on "2000 ponytails a week" being sent in.)

But it should always be a choice.

Yes, and an informed choice about how likely it is that that donation will help.

If other people are pressuring you to give up your hair, then yes, they are stupid and mean. But that's equally true if they're pressuring you to give up your money. I don't see the difference.

I think the main difference is that there are more people doing the former than the latter.

[joyitude.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing, I'm going to reconsider what I do with my hair now.

[pne.livejournal.com]

See, for example, the back-of-the-envelope calculation in one of the links based on "2000 ponytails a week" being sent in.

That was this forum entry (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showpost.php?p=120475&postcount=20), which says,

A little math using information from LoL's own website and the BBB:

LoL receives about 2000 donations per week, by mail.

That's 104,000 per year.

Let's say that only half of that is usable for wigs.(Or use another fraction, if you desire.)

That's 52,000 per year.

It takes 6-10 ponytails to make a wig.

Ok, let's say each one takes 10.

That's potentially 5200 wigs per year.

Now, in fiscal year 2002, how many wigs did LoL provide?

113.

This gives about a 2% rate.

[entirelysonja.livejournal.com]

The problem with this negative commentary about Locks of Love is that no one seems to have a specific suggestion about alternative places to donate your hair. I haven't yet sent in the hair I just cut off, but I'll probably send it to Locks of Love because I'm not aware of any better options. It doesn't bother me if they sell it to raise money for their organization.

I certainly think no one should feel pressured to donate their hair, but honestly, all it takes is a bit of self-esteem to say, "no, thanks, I like my hair the way it is."

[subbes]

Sell to a wigmaker, donate to a theater group who need hair for wigs, a dollmaker who uses human hair, or an artist.

[subbes]

give.org is maintained by the BBB and the number is taken from LoL's official reporting so you know, on the page being true thing...

[bluewingedcat.livejournal.com]

A thought. Making wigs costs money. Treating the hair, attaching it, etc. They probably get that money from reselling the hair that they feel they can't use. A lot of people do a lot of crap to their hair these days which could make it unusable.

Anyway, like I said, they may just be using the money they get from selling the hair to produce the wigs. In that case, your hair is still going to help a child get a wig, just not in the way you thought.

[leora.livejournal.com]

But where in all that information does it say that they aren't helping people? Aren't a good cause? I admit I don't fully understand all of the financial statement info.. are they selling hair and using it to buy toys for themselves? Or are they selling it to pay reasonable salaries? If the latter, then the hair ~is~ being used and useful (by being converted to money).

I suppose you're right and need to inform people as apparently people are misinformed. I just find it weird as I was never misinformed on any of those points. I've never been pressured to donate my hair. And I am often pressured by people who think I should give money to various causes.

I've never seen Locks of Love lie or mislead. So, when I mentioned that I thought it was a good charity and people should keep it in mind if they get their hair cut, I was surprised to hear a bunch of negatives.

Now, I find out that none of those negatives seem to actually apply as a reason for why you shouldn't donate when you're getting your hair cut.

And is the stupidity and cruelty of the masses really the fault of the organization?

[ladyortyger.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you, I will *definitely* not be sending mine there in that case.

I HAD seen that they said "if we can't use your hair we will sell it" but still, 113 wigs in one year seems REMARKABLY low with all that money the BBB says they have.

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

Nobody, except them, really knows where that huge amount of money goes.

They make something like US$300k each year, about US$150k of it from selling your precious hair, and the vast majority of it apparently goes out to advertising - ie, getting even more people to give even more hair to get even more money for even more advertising to get even more hair to get even more money for even more advertising...

Just over 100 wigs/year, compared with the heaps of hair people send to them, sounds to me like a complete ripoff.

Surely, they don't need THAT much money to maintain the staff and organizational structure that's actually nessecary to run such an organization. Making 113 wigs every year, you don't really need a very large staff, and most of your costs should go towards making the wigs and paying your MINIMAL staff. I think that every year that should cost them next to nothing, surely not the amount of money they make off that hair.

And how many of the kids they give wigs to have families that could easily afford purchasing a real-hair wig, as opposed to having it given to them free-of-charge?

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

If you've already cut it, then send it to them, or send it to the Prime Minister of Tanzania, or send it to the moon.

But if you've not cut it, the answer is: don't cut it, or just let it fall on the hairdresser's floor (in some countries, hairdressers sell the hair they cut to make extra money, but this may be illegal in the US).

[bacskocky.livejournal.com]

When a nonprofit organization won't open up it's financial records to show where their money is actually going, there's something suspiscious about it.

In advertisements I have seen posted in a few salons, they DO state that it goes to children with cancer. They also say that the wigs are GIVEN to the children, while in reality a number of the families have to purchase the wigs. They sell such a HUGE amount of the hair, why do they need money from selling the wigs to the kids who need them?

[entirelysonja.livejournal.com]

What I meant by "specific" is that I don't know any theater groups, dollmakers, artists, etc. who might have any need for human hair.

I'd be happy to give it to such a person/group if I knew of one. So if you do, please let me know!

[entirelysonja.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, I can't imagine cutting my hair for any reason other than that I wanted it to be shorter.

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

One other thing you can do is mix it with wax and make a candle out of it. It smells wicked interesting when it burns.