D.T.
before you donate your hair to locks of love, check out their record. they SELL most of the hair they get. From their own records, they receive around 2000 ponytails a week (around 104,000 a year). It takes up to ten to make a prosthetic wig. Locks of Love have made a total of just over 1400 wigs since inception in 1997. (That number is not a per year, it’s a total number.)
According to a 2003 report by the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, in 2002 alone Locks of Love had raised over $150,000 by selling donated hair and had received another $213,000 in charitable contributions and grants, but provided only 113 human-hair wigs.
Also, when they do give wigs away, they make the person PAY (on a sliding scale). Also, realistically, children with cancer do much better with synthetic wigs as they are very active and real hair wigs can't keep up with what synthetic hair can.
A little-known fact is that one time, the charity was under scrutiny because Locks of Love’s first CEO owned a for profit wig factory, a conflict of interest that has since been corrected by them reportedly separating from the for-profit entity.
So enjoy your hair. Donate your time and/or money instead.