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Dear Locks Of Love,
HOW dare you?
After hearing that multiple requests for wigs from your organization
were rejected because you “prefer” to give your products to kids with long-term hair loss ONLY, I am not only angry, but frustrated and hurt and truly shocked.
How dare you minimize the emotional and social effects on any child
with hair loss? Whether that hair loss is life-long or ONLY for
months/years, how do you make the choice that one’s child hurt is less
than another’s?
From your own website:
The children who receive
these hairpieces have lost more than their hair; they suffer from a
loss of self. Many children have been teased by classmates and/or
embarrassed by the attention they receive because of their hair loss.
They often will withdraw from normal childhood activities such as
swimming, going to the mall or even playing with their friends. While
wearing a hairpiece is certainly not a cure for these children, it can
help restore some of the normalcy to their everyday lives that most of
us take for granted. It is our goal to help provide a foundation on
which they can begin to rebuild their self-esteem.
While I understand that children with
alopecia do have a longer-term need, can I just share that as the
parent of a child whose hair fell out in clumps, who hurt with every
glaring stare and pointed finger, this is a devastating punch in the
gut.
So many of our friends and our friends’ children were quick to cut
their hair in a show of support and solidarity when my daughter lost
her hair. They donated to your organization because they thought they
would be helping other girls with cancer better cope with the physical
changes and self esteem issues that occur during their treatment.
I am so sad to tell them that it is not so. Your organization
doesn’t deem them sufficiently affected by their hair loss, you don’t
think that their tears at seeing their beautiful hair shaved off are
worthy of your help.
I am outraged on behalf of the many girls who sent in applications
only to receive a rejection. REALLY? THIS is how you help? By telling
them that their hair loss is only temporary and that it isn’t a big
deal, so suck it up?
I hope you never have to hold your child who is sick, fighting a
life-threatening disease and whose desire to at least look somewhat
“normal” is denied. It’s not something I would wish on anyone.
For future reference, if anyone ever asks me about donating their
hair, I will make sure to steer them in the direction of organizations
and foundations that take the needs of short-term hair loss sufferers.
Wigs for Kids not only provides hairpieces for children with the short-term hair loss from chemotherapy treatment, they are donated free of charge. (Locks of Love has a significant cost to many families)
**Edited to update (which, at finish, could have been an entire post of its own, but oh well)
Let me start by saying this: I think any organization that helps
kids, does its best to benefit children in need, whether its financial,
physical or emotional, deserves a huge thank you. I do think Locks of
Love is a great organization for what they do, for whom they do it
for. I know that for the families and children who benefit from their
work, it’s an amazing gift and much deserved.
My biggest issue is the misconceptions that they don’t correct and
foster to breed the donations. I know that this information is coming
as a shock to many, I was floored to find out that so many of the kids
we know had been denied. However, if you say Locks of Love, how many
people truly think “what a great alopecia charity”? No, I think
because the vast majority of people don’t realize that alopecia is such
an issue for children, a half a million kids in the US suffer from one
form or another of this disorder, they automatically assume that the
hair is being donated for kids with cancer.
I couldn’t count on all the fingers and toes in my household how
many people emailed or called or just stopped me to say, “My little
girl cut her hair and donated it to Locks of Love in honor of Peyton.”
Do you think they would have done that if they’d known that should
Peyton have wanted a wig, she would have been denied? Do people
realize that when they donate to Locks
