Meet Shara Lawrence-Weiss

Shara Lawrence-Weiss from MommyPerks.com is one of the people who has generously supported our Locks of Love campaign on the MommyPerks.com website as well as their Facebook page. While discussing our promotion with Shara I learned that she has donated hair to Locks of Love and is another inspiring story we wanted to share with you.

It was about nine years ago when Shara decided to donate her hair to Locks of Love. She was in "a rather unhappy place back then" and believes that by helping others your own unhappiness becomes less consuming. After learning about Locks of Love from a friend, Shara set out to research the organization and their donor requirements. Needing a minimum of ten inches of hair, Shara started letting her hair grow. When she finally met the ten inch requirement Shara headed to a salon that cut her hair, free of charge, and mailed it to Locks of Love.

When we asked Shara how she felt about donating her hair she responded, " first and foremost it was empowering. Knowing I was helping a child and giving the gift of hair to a little girl who would otherwise be bald…was amazing." However she did have some reservations with the ten inch requirement and would have liked other lengths to be accepted.

Once cut, it was a shock to Shara to see her hair so short. However, Shara thinks about donating her hair again. If she does, she plans to grow it even longer so when the ten inches come off she is still able to sport her "mommy ponytail."

Thank you Shara for sharing such a valuable gift with children in need.

Meet Deborah Sloan

Our Locks of Love charity event has given us the opportunity to meet amazing people who have given a part of themselves to Locks of Love. They have given the greatest gift they could to this amazing organization, their hair. We continue to honor and say thank you to people who have made such a generous donation. This week we would like to introduce you to Deborah Sloan.

Deborah is a grandmother of ten and last August found out she was going to soon be a grandmother to eleven. Enjoying the moment of finding out about another child on the way and still feeling young at heart Deborah felt it was time for a grandma makeover. For years, she had “hippie” hair that went down to her waist and just got comfortable with her style. It was something she just had not changed in years and when thinking about doing it was nervous. What would she look like, what new style to choose and how much would it cost were all things Deborah was concerned about.

When she decided to take the plunge and cut her hair Deborah had one condition. Her cut hair was going to be donated to Locks of Love. At the end of August 2009 Deborah took the plunge, her granddaughter braided her hair and her daughter cut the long braid off. For the first time in years Deborah had chin length hair.

Deborah sites why giving to Locks of Love was so important to her.

“Giving it to Locks of Love was my one condition to my family in agreeing to cut my hair. I would only cut it if it went to Locks of Love because I know what these kids suffer through. There was a time I was losing my hair because of medications I was taking. It's a horrible feeling. But it stopped and thanks to some terrific friends who supported me my hair all came back.”

Like so many others Deborah has shared her love and given a smile to a child who otherwise might not have one.

If you would like to read more about Deborah you can visit her at her blog, Babas Farm Life, http://babasfarmlife.blogspot.com/

Meet Mike Wohlberg

When I decided to do our Locks of Love charity event I thought it would be nice to recognize those who have donated their hair to the organization. Monetary donations are wonderful but without those who donate real hair Locks of Love would not be able to give their recipients the hair pieces they do. What nicer tribute to those children who suffer horrible diseases than to give your own hair as a donation.


Meet Mike Wohlberg who donated his hair to Locks of Love. We all need to applaud him for his generosity and thank him for making a difference for a child in need. Mike's story is below in his own words.

My first encounter with the Locks of Love Foundation occurred during a high school pep rally. Mr. Magyarics, the school’s sociology and psychology teacher, was going to have his head shaved at the end of the function as the main event. Mr. Magyarics was the school’s “cool guy”: he had a classroom covered in offbeat posters, sported tattoos and earrings, and had signature waist long hair that he kept tied back at all times in a very tight braid. The students were very excited for the event. In an additional twist, tickets were being sold offering the chance for one student to cut off his braid and shave off the rest of his hair. Come the day of the rally I was curious to see the outcome, but not really sure what the purpose of it was. I wrote it off as little more than a quirky and inexpensive way to really entertain the student body. A student was chosen (not I) and a few minutes later the high school gymnasium was filled with a chorus of whoops and hollers as one of our teachers was shaved clean. There were two things I learned that day. One, Mr. Magyarics’ head was not that dissimilar in shape to that of a potato. More importantly, however, it was announced that his famous ponytail was to be donated to the Locks of Love Foundation. I kept the information stored in the back of my mind for many years.

Fast forward eight years. It’s now 2009, I’m graduated from college, and I have a long mane of my own owed to 2 years without a trim. I was quite attached to my hair (easy joke), but knew that all good things must come to an end and started planning a donation of my own. After a little research simply by going to locksoflove.org I discovered how easy it was to donate to the organization. All that was required of me was that I have a minimum of 10” of hair tied in a tight braid placed in a dry plastic bag and mailed through the normal postal service to the address provided on the site. I went to the local barber, told them what I had in mind, and a mere ten minutes later I walked out with my hair in a plastic bag and a streamlined ‘doo. I mailed out the package a few days later and that was that. As an additional treat for my parents, I timed my hair cut to coincide with Mother’s Day and surprised them during my next visit. It was like a Christmas and birthday present rolled into one for my father.

Though it’ll be quite some time before I have the same waist long hair style of yesteryear, I can’t recommend this kind of donation enough to anyone capable of contributing. It’s one of the few renewable resources we have available and if given the opportunity there’s no reason not to pitch in. It demands so little of us and yet makes a great difference in the life of someone in need.

If you have donated hair or know someone who has we would love to share your story. Please contact us at info@littlemissjulia.com if you have a story to share.