The Alumni Scholars Club is hosting a Locks of Love event in which students will cut off at least five inches of their hair to help make wigs for children who have lost their hair because of medical illnesses.
The event will be held at the James West Alumni Center today.
Two days before the event, 240 people had signed up to get free haircuts from Vidal Sassoon. All appointment times are full, and even more people were interested, said Naomi Serling-Boyd, Alumni Scholars Club volunteers director and event organizer.
Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that makes hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children who have lost their hair due to illnesses, Serling-Boyd said.
Wigs help children suffering from hair loss regain self-confidence and a sense of normalcy, but wigs can cost several thousand dollars, so Locks of Love provides free wigs for children who need them, the Locks of Love Web site said.
Donations of 10 inches of hair are used to make wigs, and donations of five to 10 inches of hair are sold and used to offset the cost of wig production, Serling-Boyd said.
Donors at the event today will receive food from BJ’s Restaurant, and the event is open to all students who want to come make Valentine’s Day cards for children at the Mattel Children’s Hospital.
The Alumni Scholars Club will also ship hair if students have already cut their hair for Locks of Love and have not mailed their donated ponytails yet. They will also give out coupons to get a free haircut by Vidal Sassoon if the hair is donated.
Alumni Scholars Club, an organization of 700 students who have received merit-based scholarships, began this event last year. Alumni Scholars Club President Jenn Hyman said they were so pleased with the overwhelming turnout last year, and this year there will be even more participants.
“Last year it started, and we just thought it would be a couple people in a room, but it ballooned into this huge event with 220 donors,” Serling-Boyd said.
To gain publicity for the event last year, Hyman had a foot of hair cut off in front of several hundred people at an Alumni Scholars Club meeting, and this year, another Alumni Scholars Club member Erin Tomiyama had her hair cut off during a club meeting.
The club members are required to do 30 hours of community service to continue receiving the scholarship, and the event last year was a way to give members a different, more direct service opportunity, said Hyman, who helped start the event last year.
“This is more than just donating time or money,” Hyman said. “When your hair is cut, every day you acknowledge that you have done something to help others.”