How to Choose Between Wigs for Kids and Locks of Love Donations

Wigs for Kids and Locks of Love provide real human hair, based on donations, to children who suffer from autoimmune diseases, cancer and other reasons for hair loss. Donating your hair is a rewarding, charitable act, no matte which charity you donate your hair to. Your contribution helps boost a child's self-esteem and can truly change a child's life, so take a few factors into consideration before you choose the charity.

• Choose a foundation based on whether your hair is permanently dyed, highlighted, permed or temporarily dyed. Wigs for Kids only accepts hair that is highlighted or dyed using a temporary coloring. Permed, chemically straightened or bleached hair is not accepted, nor are dreadlocks. If your hair has turned gray, even if you color over the gray, you hair will not be accepted. Locks of Love accepts permed or colored-treated hair as long as it has not been bleached. This includes people who have had bleach used on their hair during the highlighting process. This charity accepts gray hair, but will not accept dreadlocks.


• Take into consideration how long the hair is you plan to donate. For instance, Locks of Love accepts hair if it is in a ponytail with a length of 10 inches or more. On the other hand, Wigs for Kids only accepts hair if it is 12 inches or longer in a ponytail. The foundation Locks of Love uses hair shorter than 10 inches to assist with costs; however, the majority of the hair must be 10 inches or longer.


• Compare the causes of the two charities. If you donate your hair to Wigs for Kids, kids with long-term and short-term hair loss benefit, including those who lost their hair because of chemotherapy, scalp burns or autoimmune diseases. On the contrary, Locks of Love only donates hair to children who have permanent hair loss from scalp burns, auto immune diseases and other various medical conditions.


• Consider the age bracket and other demographics of whom the donation benefits. The Wigs for Kids charity provides wigs for U.S children ages 18 and younger, while Locks of Love provides hair for individuals under 21 who live in Canada or the U.S.