Have you ever wanted to help out but just didn't know how you could make a difference? Well here are some ways you can help out and best of all it's easy and free. All you have to do is visit these sites everyday and click the buttons on their pages. That's it. You can even sign up for email reminders so you can remember to click everyday. I have & I do click.
The sites are as follows: Hunger Site, Breast Cancer Site, Child Health Site, Rain Forest Site, & Animal Rescue Site.
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Note: Clicking these buttons will only take you to their sites. These do not count as clicks, you still have to click the buttons on their individual sites.
Donating Hair For Wigs Charities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before you go any further it is very important that you stop and read what I have to say. Please keep in mind that I could be wrong about this but this is based on what I've learned. If you want to find out for yourself please do your own research.
The two most well known charities that make wigs for children are Locks Of Love and Wigs For Kids. I have the links below but please continue reading before you click them. There has been a lot of debate as to just how much these charities actually do. Most of the conversations are about the odds of your hair being made into a wig for a child. Other conversations are about people who are pressured by peers into donating when they did not really want to cut their hair. Lastly there are conversations about who the wigs are made for and why.
WILL YOUR HAIR BE USED?
If you are planning to donate your hair please understand that there is a chance that your hair may not be used and may be sold. There are a few factors that will cause hair to be sold. Both programs have a MINIMUM length requirement of 10 inches (24.5 cm). This is because the process to make the wigs will take off about 2 inches making a wig of around 8 inches. If you don't have hair that is that long there is a good chance your hair will NOT be used. Please see below for instructions to get the most use out of your hair.
The best hair to donate is hair that is as close to damage free as possible. Locks Of Love says on their site that they will accept permed or colored but will not accept bleached or chemically damaged hair. Wigs For Kids says on their site hair can't be permed, color-treated, or highlighted. But they do say that temporary coloring or highlights are acceptable if they are the type that washout. The L.O.L. site says they do not use gray hair so it will be seperated and sold. Please keep in mind that during the process they will go through the hair strand by strand looking for damage, etc. If you have been using a lot of irons, blow dryers, hot rollers, hot combs, or other things that could damage hair there is a chance that some if not a lot of your hair might not be used. This is only my opinon but keep in mind that these charities get a lot of donated hair. If they pick up your tail and see mostly damage they may decide that it's not worth the time of going through it strand by strand and then only use 10-20 percent of it. Maybe they will? I could be wrong. But just be warned that if your hair has damage it probably won't be used.
Another factor of your hair not being used is supply and demand. Part of the discussions surrounding the usage issue is the ratio of donated hair to wigs made. The wigs that these charities make cost at least $1000. They are custom made for each child. So that means that before hair can be made into a wig these charities need to have that money on hand to pay for the manufacturing. Thankfully there are a lot of corporate sponsors who have contributed large sums of money to help out, but you can donate money as well or instead of hair. So cost is one factor. As far as supply goes, these charities receive hundreds of hair donations per week if not thousands. (L.O.L. says they get 2000 per week which equals 104,000 per year.) I have personally seen lots of pictures on the web of gymnasiums full of people getting their hair cut for annual cut-a-thons. So as long as those cut-a-thons are actually sending the hair that is a lot of hair being sent. Keeping that in mind your hair may end up sitting in a warehouse waiting to be used even if it does turn out to be useable. These charities rely on volunteer work to do the sorting and related things so time becomes an issue. Also if they get more hair than money it is possible that they could sell your hair to pay for a wig to be made which is fine with me as long as somehow the wigs get to the kids. Both charities do make wigs for children. There is debate about just how many they do make compared to the amounts of hair they receive. It might even be only about 10 percent of the hair they get. If the worst case senario were true and let's say only one child received a wig free of charge since these charities started, would it matter to You if all the other hair was sold? I think that's a personal decision. Are you dead set on having your hair make it into a wig? Because there's a good chance it might not be. Please keep that in mind.
PRESSURE FROM OTHERS TO DONATE
I'm going to start out by saying that if you are reading this page and you are thinking of telling someone else to donate please stop. Unless you know for a fact that this person is already planning to cut their hair in an amount similar to the minimum amount, it is Wrong of you to ask them to donate. I am totally against people asking other people to cut their hair for any reason. I especially do not like them being told it will help a child and laying a guilt trip on them. If you are planning to do that to someone then please don't read my article. Would you like it if someone told you that you had to donate your house because you had too many rooms?
My article is for people who are trying to decide for themselves if they want to donate their own hair. If you have long hair please do not let anyone pressure you into donating it if you don't want short hair. Remember, your hair might not be used. You can always donate money instead. I saw on the L.O.L. site where some people even donate office supplies and such to help the volunteers.
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU REPORTS AND IRS REPORTS
Please be sure to look at these reports before you make a decision. Does anything on these reports bother you?
1. Is your hair long enough and in good enough condition to donate?
2. Are you giving this hair for your own reasons and not because someone is pressuring you to donate?
3. Do you care if your hair actually makes it into a wig or if it gets sold?
4. Does any of the information at BBB or IRS make you think twice?
5. Would you rather donate something else? Money, stamps, office supplies, time.
6. Would you consider also or instead donating to a cancer society or other research charity so that cures can be found for these diseases?
7. Would you rather go to a local hospital and spend time with children?
YOUR DECISION
If you decided that you do Not want to donate your hair or would like to do something else that is fine. No one should ever be pressured into doing anything for charity. Nor should you be pressured into cutting your hair for any reason.
If you decided that you Would like to donate then please continue on and read not only my instructions but also be sure to recheck the instructions at whichever charity you choose. They might have changed since you read this. Besides you have to go there for their address or other info anyway.
To be continued
HOW TO PROPERLY CUT YOUR HAIR TO GET THE BEST RESULTS
To insure that you are getting the minimum required length for your donation please follow these instructions.
STEP 1. Make sure the hair to be donated is clean. Both sites say that you can send previously cut saved hair if it's in decent condition. But at least one site (L.O.L.) says not to send hair that has fallen on the floor and been swept up.
STEP 2. Tie hair into at least four sections (six are even better) around the head. Hair that is pulled into one ponytail or braid results in a loss of up to four inches of hair because you are pulling the side hair back. To do so, first make a center part. Starting from this center part, part the hair over the top of each ear. This will create four sections of hair. To create four ponytails, tie the hair in front of each ear into ponytails, and then tie the hair behind each ear into ponytails. Make sure each ponytail or braid is tightly secured. Hair that is loosely wrapped tends to fall out of direction when shipped, making it unusable. Please measure each tail to make sure you have at least the 10 inch minimum. If you don't then maybe it would be a good idea to wait a few months?
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