April 2020
THE HEIGHTS SMI LE Herald
5825 Lande r b rook Dr i ve , Su i t e 124 , May f i e l d He i gh t s , OH 44124
( 440 ) 483 - 1003
You Can Donate Your Hair?
Janae’s Simple Act of Kindness
There are a lot of ways we can make the world a better place. I think we sometimes get caught up in the idea that doing good means devoting all our time and energy in one huge act. This isn’t true. Even small acts of kindness can create more good in the world; we just have to look for those opportunities. This month, I’ve asked one of my dental hygienists, Janae, to share about some good she does in the world by doing something she was going to do anyway: getting her hair cut. –-Jason A. Schermer When I was a little girl, my best friend’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. We were in third grade at the time, and we really didn’t know how to talk about it. We were a little too young to approach a topic of that magnitude. But I remember how my friend’s mom’s hair always seemed full and healthy. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned how important wigs were to both my friend and her mom. My friend’s mom passed away from cancer when we were in college. At this point, we were adults and could talk more about this hard topic. During those conversations, I learned more about what my friend went through growing up with a mom who had cancer. The wigs helped make things seem normal, not just for her mom but for my friend as well. Her mom could go out, and that topic wasn’t
donate. I’ve donated my hair four times! The most recent donation went to to an organization called Wigs for Kids.
It feels good to know that I’m making the difference in
someone’s life just by doing something I was doing anyway — getting a haircut.
Every donation organization has
different requirements. Some will accept as little as 8 inches, while others require over 10 inches; some can take colored or treated hair, while others don’t; some organizations won’t take gray hair, while others will. It really depends on the organization. It’s up to the donor to decide where they want to send their hair unless their salon happens to work with a certain organization, which can make the process simpler. It feels good to know that I’m making the difference in someone’s life just by doing something I was doing anyway — getting a haircut. If you’re thinking about donating your hair, know that there are plenty of salons in Cleveland that can help. I recommend doing a little research to find which organization is the best fit for you. But know whatever organization you choose, you’ll help make a big difference in someone’s life.
on everyone’s mind. Thanks to the wigs, my friend wasn’t always thinking, “My mom has cancer.” They could have a sense of normalcy in their lives. I’d heard about hair donation for years, but learning about how much these wigs meant to my friend and her mom really pushed me to donate my own hair. For a long time, I had shoulder-length hair, and I had decided to try something different by letting my hair grow out. My hair ended up growing quite a bit longer than I’d originally planned because I no longer lived in the same city as my sister-in-law, who was my stylist. When I could finally get in for a haircut again, I realized that my hair was long enough to donate even if I cut it back to my usual length. It’s been eight years since my first donation. I’ve gotten used to having my hair all different lengths. It’s fun to experiment with style and play around with braids when my hair gets longer. The process tends to take about two years — to grow my hair until it’s long enough to
–Janae Szczepinski
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