Wednesday, July 10, 2002
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Wednesday, July 10, 2002 |
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Local girl donates hair to Locks of Love program
By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Emily Breault had long, luxurious hair. The 11-year-old student at Rising Starr Middle School got her hair cut Tuesday morning so that she could donate 10 inches to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the United States suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Locks of Love was formed in 1997 and has helped over 800 children since its inception. Over 80 percent of the donors are children like Breault who learn about the program and want to do something to help. Breault, like most people, has known many people with cancer. Both of her grandparents succumbed to the disease, a friend's mother had cancer as did the school nurse at Breault's former school, Oak Grove Elementary School. "I wanted to help someone," said Breault. "This was something that I could do." Donations to Locks of Love must be a minimum of 10 inches in length, so Breault grew her hair to over 21 inches in almost two years. It got unwieldy from time to time. In fact, the process of washing and drying it would take close to two hours. In the end, though, Breault was a little nervous when it came time to shear off 10 inches of hair. Both of her parents, Russ and Donna, were present to lend their support. Breault went to the home of Andrea Gillard, the wife of First Presbyterian Church youth pastor Pete Gillard, who has a small salon inside of her home. It was the first time that Gillard had cut the hair of someone making a donation to Locks of Love. As a treat for Breault, Gillard volunteered to put a few highlights in her new 'do. The process of cutting off 10 inches took almost no time at all. Within a matter of minutes Breault held two ponytails of hair that she would be donating to the organization. Donations must be a minimum of 10 inches of clean hair, put in a pony tail and placed inside a plastic baggie. The organization needs hair from men and women of all ages, hair colors and races. For more
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