Cancer Childhood Cancer How to Donate to or Apply to Locks of Love By Lisa Fayed Lisa Fayed is a freelance medical writer, cancer educator and patient advocate. Learn about our editorial process Lisa Fayed Fact checked by Fact checked by Ashley Hall on April 26, 2020 linkedin Ashley Hall is a writer and fact checker who has been published in multiple medical journals in the field of surgery. Learn about our editorial process Ashley Hall Updated on April 26, 2020 Print Table of Contents View All Overview Donating Receiving Gender Conditions Locks of Love is a well-known organization that accepts donations of human hair to create hairpieces for children who have lost their own hair because of cancer treatments and other medical causes. The program has guidelines for donating and receiving hair and this article answers some of the most frequently asked questions about Locks of Love. Getty Images / Getty Images Overview Locks of Love is a public, non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to 'financially disadvantaged children' who have lost their natural hair through medical treatments. While the majority of donations are received by children suffering from alopecia, Locks of Love does help people under the age of 21 who have lost hair due to other conditions. The causes of hair loss vary and include hair loss from long-term chemotherapy and permanent loss from radiation therapy. The hair pieces are made through donations of hair from men, women, and children across the United States and Canada. Financial donations are also accepted for those who do not wish to donate their hair. Donating Your Hair There are guidelines for donating hair to Locks of Love, such as length and condition of hair. Hair can be cut by anyone as long as these guidelines are met. Many salons are also sponsors of Locks of Love and will cut your hair for free as long as it is donated to Locks of Love. Receiving a Hair Piece To request a hairpiece, a Locks of Love application must be submitted. An essay about the child and two letters of recommendations are also required. Tax forms must also be submitted because Locks of Love only donates hairpieces to disadvantaged children. Parents or guardians with an income over $100,000 generally do not qualify unless they have extenuating circumstances. Receiving a hairpiece can take 4 to 6 months from the time an application is submitted.Once the application is approved, the family is sent a molding kit.The molding kit will allow a plaster mold to be made of the child's head.The mold is then sent back to Locks of Love, who then sends it to the hairpiece manufacturer.The hairpieces are intricately made to ensure high quality and Locks of Love fits the bill for the manufacturing. The hair pieces would normally retail for $3500 to $6000. An application to Locks of Love can be submitted every 18 months. A child can receive up to 5 hairpieces. Is It Only for Girls? While Locks of Love says that the majority of applicants are girls, hairpieces can also be made for boys. Children with short-term hair loss can also receive a synthetic hairpiece. Is It Only for Children With Cancer? The organization helps children suffering from long-term and permanent hair loss due to several conditions, not cancer exclusively. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Limiting processed foods and red meats can help ward off cancer risk. These recipes focus on antioxidant-rich foods to better protect you and your loved ones. Sign up and get your guide! Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. KidsHealth. Side Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation. Updated October 2016.