Four sisters donate to children with medical hair loss
Cause benefits from siblings’ first trip to salon
By KRISTEN SENZ
The Daily Sentinel
Four sisters from Palisade who have never had haircuts decided to get some new styles Friday and to donate their long dark tresses to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that makes hairpieces for children suffering from medical hair loss.
The Lopez sisters, 12-year-old Brittany, 10-year-old Andrea, 9-year-old Kendra and 6-year-old Larrisa, each donated about 12 inches of hair to the nonprofit organization, with the help of their stylist at Trade Winds Styling Salon, Kari Morse.
“Wow, that’s a lot of hair,” Morse said as the girls entered the salon with their mom, Patricia.
Patricia Lopez said when her daughters decided they wanted to cut their hair, she suggested donating it to Locks of Love. When the girls saw pictures of young cancer sufferers with new do’s, they got excited about the idea, she said, tearing up over the positive impact she knows her daughters are making.
Andrea Lopez was first in line for the scissors, but Morse seemed more nervous about the cut.
“OK, here we go,” Morse said as she made the first snip. “Gosh, I don’t know if I want to do this.”
Brittany Lopez said her short-haired friends told her how much easier it is for them to comb and style in the morning. Kendra and Larrisa Lopez said they feel pretty good about being able to help someone else in need, and all four sisters wondered if they’d be able to find out who gets their hair.
The sisters all had short styles picked out before the big cut, and none of them shed tears when they saw their detached ponytails.
Locks of Love provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 with medical hair loss. Most of the children the organization helps lost their hair to alopecia areata, a medical condition that has no known cause or cure, according to the organization’s Web site.
The charity, which began in 1997, has helped more than 1,000 children since its first year of operation. Children comprise more than 80 percent of the donors, making it a charity where children have the opportunity to help other children.
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