In about 1995 or so, the Canadian
Cancer Society asked me if there was something that could be done
with the hair donations that they were receiving. An organization
called “Locks Of Love” was making wigs for children with Alopecia
and many Canadians wanted to help Canadian kids.
Locks Of Love is a great organization
by the way. I know the driving force behind it, Greg Taylor, who I
count as a personal friend as well as a mentor. His organization has
helped kids all over the United States and does beautiful work.
But the wigs are vacuum caps designed
for kids with complete hair loss. They are not practical for kids that
have partial hair loss, or temporary hair loss. What "Wigs For Kids"
does is take hair donations and use the hair to make wigs and and
partials for children with any type of medical hair loss.
The donated hair is sorted and blended
and then made into small cap wigs for children under 12. These are
made available free of charge to any Canadian child that needs it.
Most of the children come to us through referrals from hospitals. We
have some wigs that are here but are also able to make special
custom orders for children that need it and are able to wait for a
couple of months for them to be made.
How to Donate Hair
to Help Children with Hair Loss
All donations should be 10 inches (25
cm) or longer, secured in a ponytail at both ends.
We do NOT cut hair here. You can go
to any stylist or hairdresser to get your hair cut.
Simply have them follow the guidelines
below:
-
Hair must be clean and dry and must
be in a braid or ponytail before it is cut.
-
10 inches measured tip to tip is the
minimum length needed, layered hair is acceptable if the longest
layer is 10 inches
-
When donating hair by shaving hair
off be sure to divide the sections of hair into braids or pony tails
before it is cut off
-
We accept hair that has been dyed or
colored
-
We accept grey hair, 10 inches and
longer and even hair that had been cut years ago and stored in
either a braid or ponytail
-
Hair swept off the floor is not
usable
-
We cannot accept hair that had
a perm, been bleached or dread locks
-
Place hair in a clear plastic bag,
and then place in an envelope for mailing
We always try to get thank you notes
out to acknowledge contributions but we sometimes fall behind.
Please call us if you did not receive one. Letters are not sent out
automatically, please include a note with your full name and address
if you would like one.
Donations can be dropped off in person
(Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 5pm or Saturdays 9am to 4pm). Please see
address and directions below.
Upon dropping off donations we ask
that no photos be taken in our salon to protect our clients privacy.
We do not provide thank you letters
on the spot nor do we have an official thank you ceremony upon
dropping off hair. Thank you for understanding this and for your
donation.
Hair can be mailed to us directly at:
WIGS FOR KIDS
c/o Continental Hair
92 ˝ Avenue Road
Toronto, Ontario M5R
2H2
We are three blocks north of Bloor on the
west side of Avenue Road.
