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.
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