A girl donates her hair for charity
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Kayla Waizer before and after donating her hair to Zichron Menachem
Photo courtesy Mindy Waizer
To donate hair:
Chai Lifeline
www.chailifeline.org
212-894-8236
Locks of Love
www.locksoflove.org
info@locksoflove.org
Zichron Menachem
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January 19, 2010
My seven-year-old daughter, Kayla, sat in a salon chair with her eyes squeezed shut as a scissor-wielding stylist snipped an 11-inch braid from the back of her head. When she opened her eyes and looked at the braid the stylist had placed in her hand, she shook her head and gave a shy smile. As a mother, it was one of the proudest moments I can remember.
We hadn’t cut Kayla’s hair since she was three, after a particularly traumatic salon experience. Long, wavy hair comes with its own challenges, and last summer, Kayla had begun to talk about cutting her hair shorter — she was tired of fighting the knots in the morning. Then, she saw that her friend Ricki Schlussel had donated her hair to Zichron Menachem, an Israeli association that supports children with cancer and their families. Her hair would be made into wigs for those children. Laurie, Ricki’s mother, told us about Zichron Menachem, and Kayla said she wanted to donate her hair, too.
Kayla’s hair wasn’t long enough — it needed to be at least 10 inches — so we decided to wait until after the summer. Somehow summer became October, and we still hadn’t done it. Then HBO ran a documentary, The Kindest Cut, about Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to children suffering from medical hair loss. It was heartbreaking and inspiring. There are few sights more shocking than a child with a bald head, or more uplifting than seeing a child transformed by the kindness of strangers.
Kayla wanted to go to the salon the very next day. “It’s really sad, isn’t it, that the sick children have to get shots all the time and go to the hospital?” she said. “I really, really want to donate my hair to them.”
We went to the salon two days later. Ashley, the stylist, gave Kayla a sweet little bob that framed her face and made her eyes look twice as big as before. When she was done, Kayla got balloons and a steak dinner (her request). She felt like a million dollars.
The next day, we put the braid in a plastic bag and mailed it to Zichron Menachem’s U.S. office.
I was awed by Kayla’s bravery and her urge to perform this incredible act of hesed (kindness) that is such a fundamental principle of Jewish life. I hope her experience can inspire other children to donate their hair as well.
Comments
Rena King
January 21, 2010
Bravo to Kayla Waizer. A child with such a giving nature must be raised in a very special home with incredible role models. May her courage and desire to do for others inspire many to increase their acts of kindness too.
Ingeborg von Finsterwalde
March 23, 2010
I Need Good News
When I read the newspaper I pray for good news
But I am always left with the blues
The world is in a very sad shape
I know we have to turn over a new page
A teen killed in a crash a baby dumped in the trash
A young woman murdered a teen shot
a tsunami washing away a new spot
I turn the pages and to my delight
I see a precious most wonderful sight
Here on the page a Miss America true
And what she is doing benefits you
She is not older than eight or ten
and so worthy of me writing this pen
She just had cut off about 12 inches
of her precious long hair
holding it up with a ribbon so fair
There is a big smile on her sweet face
and her gift is presented with grace
She is making a donation
to the “ Locks of Love”
bless you little One, from heaven above.
Miss Mia
February 02, 2011
God bless the good people for they make living worthwhile. The poem by Ingeborg von Finsterwalde is very fitting.