Seminole Donates to Locks of Love

Story by Judy Weeks

IMMOKALEE — A seven-year-old member of the Immokalee community has learned about compassion for others at an early age. Chelsey Ford, daughter of Michelle Ford, heard from a friend that a group collects human hair to be made into wigs for medical hair loss patients.

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that supplies hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children 18 years and younger who have lost hair due to a medical condition(s).

Chelsey said she saw children on television who had become bald because of chemotherapy for cancer and was extremely moved by their plight. Chelsey realized how lucky she was and wanted to help.

Her mother searched the internet and located a Locks of Love in Lake Worth, Fla. Through her research she learned that the organization’s founder Madonna Coffman and her four year old daughter both suffered from a disease known as Alopecia, which causes permanent hair loss.

Looking for some kind of assistance for her child, in December 1997, Coffman formed this non-profit entity. Locks of Love now enjoys national attention.

By providing natural hair pieces for afflicted children, they are able to restore self-esteem and confidence, enabling them to face the world. Locks of Love has provided wigs for children in all 50 states and Canada.

Since it’s inception Locks of Love spokespeople have appeared on Oprah, 20/20, The View, Jay Leno, Maury Povich, Good Morning America and Inside Edition. Because of this tremendous exposure, they are now receiving hair donations that exceed 2,000 per week with 80 percent of the hair donors being children.

In order to be placed on the recipient list, two letters of recommendation from a parent, nurse or doctor must be submitted with a diagnosis, photo and parents recent tax return. Once processing begins, it takes approximately three days for approval.

If a child is accepted they will be sent a molding kit and video for making a plaster head cast with a hairline. Color, hair length and skin tone are taken into consideration before wigs are made.

Donors must submit hair in a braid or ponytail that is 10 inches or longer. Each hair piece takes six to 10 ponytails because short hair cannot be used. After careful screening the prepared hair is forwarded with the head cast to Indonesia.

A surgical silicone skullcap has hair inserted with a special needle more than 150,000 times at a 45 degree angle and then is sealed with silicone. This process takes approximately eight to 10 weeks.

The completed hairpiece is then provided to the recipient for styling. As the child grows their head shape must be accommodated. Between six and 18 years a youngster can reapply every 18 months for up to five hairpieces in a lifetime.

Chelsey decided that she would definitely like to help. On Dec. 21, her mother took her to Styles on the Edge hair salon. The second grader cheerfully allowed stylist Gloria Garza to wash her hair, blow dry it and collect it into a braid at the nap of her neck.

Upon cutting off her braid, it was placed in a Ziploc® bag and then a bubble wrap envelope for shipment to Locks of Love.

Garze worked her magic on Chelsey and provided her with a very attractive hair style which is easy to care for and compliments her features. A student at the Community Christian School of LaBelle, Fla., she couldn’t wait to show her classmates her new look.

Chelsey was very excited not only about her new do, but the fact that some other child would soon have an opportunity to live a more normal life. She is already talking about letting her hair grow so that she can do this again.

Anyone interested in joining Chelsey in this most worthwhile endeavor, can obtain information over the internet through locksoflove.org.