Facebook is full of haters on "Locks of Love." My daughter donates to them nearly every year so I decided to do some research. You'll be surprised what I found out.

First let me say that if you want to donate your hair to a different organization like Pantene's Beautiful Lengths go right ahead. Donating hair to a charity is always a good idea.

Here's the problem with hating Locks of Love:

  • The Facebook post that started the firestorm in Feb. 2015 cited no facts. No studies, no reports, no IRS documents. It just spouted criticism. How do you know she's right?
  • If she is right, Locks of Love are not liars. People have made up facts about the organization and are now upset some of those facts aren't true. But Locks of Love never said those things! They never said the wigs go to kids with cancer. The organization was started to help kids with a different ailment. But they do help kids with cancer, along with burn victims. And yes they sell some of the hair, but they never claimed they didn't.
  • Most criticism of Locks of Love goes back to 2005 when a website trying to get famous extrapolated data from a 2004 newspaper article and then gave the charity a "bad grade." The 2004 article quoted someone saying they get over 2,000 hair donations a week. So the 2005 report said that has a monetary value of $6 million a year. But in truth, 2,000 was only an estimate and MOST of that hair is thrown away because it doesn't meet the specific criteria for becoming a wig.
  • If you're upset most of the hair is thrown away than criticize everyone who cuts off hair and mails it in without reading the criteria!
  • If you're mad they sell the hair than be aware that they only get a few hundred requests for hair each year. They try to help people who can't afford wigs. They also sell them at a discount to people who can afford it but want to save some money. Most people who need hair just buy them from a wig factory.
  • Most people donate hair, not money. The organization has expenses to provide those few hundred wigs a year and selling the hair pays the bills. If you want that to stop, send them a check!
So go ahead and switch charities. Who you donate to isn't the point. The fact that you're trying to help people with something that costs you nothing but the stamp is awesome. But the "problems" with Locks of Love sound like the same problems ANY wig charity would have.

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