POULSBO — Ten-year-old Bonnie Foley was nervous but excited for her first haircut ever Saturday.
With mom Holly the next chair over, Bonnie was wide-eyed when hairdresser Jennifer Morrow showed her how long her hair would be once she cut it.
“She hasn’t had anything except a trim since she had hair,” Holly explained. “But she’s always wondered what her hair would look like short.”
But no matter what a life change a shorter do might make for Bonnie, a fourth grader at Suquamish Elementary, she was happy to meet the clippers. That’s because she knew her shorn locks would be going to a great cause.
Saturday marked the end of a goal the pair had set for themselves nearly six months earlier to donate their hair to Locks of Love. The national non-profit organization accepts donations of human hair that becomes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to medical conditions.
Holly said the pair heard about Locks of Love a few years ago and Bonnie, who has had hair longer than shoulder-length since she was about 3, was immediately interested in donating her hair to the cause.
“Four members of our family have cancer and her aunt Maureen did lose her hair during the chemo and grandma just started chemo, but she’ll probably lose her hair as well,” Holly commented. “We had kind of mutual understanding that it would be a good thing to do with our hair.”
“It’s a really good thing to do for kids that have cancer and for people who don’t have hair,” Bonnie added.
Though Bonnie’s hair was long enough for the minimum 10-inch ponytail that Locks of Love can accept, Holly had a ways to go. She previously had long hair, which she’d cut, and it took her about five months to grow her hair back to the 10-inch mark again. But she did have the foresight to bring her old ponytail Saturday, so there were actually three sets of hair ready for Locks of Love.
And after having 15 inches removed from her hair, Bonnie predicted that she was going to like her new look. She said she was looking forward to her hair being easier to care for and not quite so cumbersome to live with. Bonnie said she thinks she’ll keep her hair shorter for a while and that she was glad she did it.
“It was fun, really fun but scary,” Bonnie said. “I feel really good.”
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For more information about Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org.
