On May 8th, English and journalism teacher Kathleen Trace held her bi-annual hair donation event, which is open to all SunDevils who want to donate their luscious locks to a good cause. Being a donor herself, Trace and many others wait two years to grow enough hair to be able to donate at least eight inches to the non-profit organization Wigs4Kids. This was the seventh hair donation drive at the school spearheaded by Trace.
Founded to help children face the emotional and physical distress of medical hair loss, Wigs4Kids provides free, custom hairpieces to restore self-image and confidence. Through a network of donors across the nation, the non-profit aims to ensure that children can focus on healing rather than worrying about their appearance during a health crisis.
Wigs4Kids provides these hairpieces entirely free of charge to families. According to Trace, this financial model is the primary reason she chose the organization.
“I choose Wigs4Kids because they don’t charge for their wigs. Locks of Love uses a sliding scale based on income,” said Trace.
Trace’s involvement with donating hair began prior to her teaching career, following a deeply personal medical diagnosis.
“I have been donating my hair every two years since I was diagnosed with Alopecia when I was in graduate school,” said Trace. “Luckily, I haven’t had a bald spot in years. But, I know what it is like to face the possibility of losing your hair, and if I can do something to help others in the same situation, I will.”
She makes the process of donating simple. Each volunteer gets parental permission, then fills out a form provided by Wigs4Kids, and finally participates in the hair-cutting event at school. The event has taken place during one lunch in past years, but this year it was held during B4 in Trace’s room. After the haircut, volunteers package their donated hair in a gallon-sized zip-lock bag with their Wigs4Kids form. After the event, Trace ships all of the bags in one big package to the donation center.
This year’s donors included teachers Kathleen Trace and Katie Flint, seniors London Logan, Maddie Callahan, Emmaline Rivera, Stella Swartz, and Samantha Munoz.
Participants had different personal motivations for joining the Wigs4Kids cause. For senior Emmaline Rivera, the decision was connected to a past family member.
“Two years ago, my family wanted me to donate my hair to my grandma, who lost her hair to chemo, but I wasn’t ready at the time,” said Rivera. “So, I wanted to do what I couldn’t then and give my hair to someone who needs it.”
Some of the donors, they initially hesitated at cutting their hair due to the significant change in appearance. Many felt uneasy and experienced anxiety.
“My heart was pounding out of my chest,” said Rivera. “I was so nervous I would be rocking a very short bob, because I have never cut my hair outside of layers, and was terrified of such a drastic change to my appearance. But, I was really excited to be donating my hair.”
Senior London Logan agreed.
“I was terrified about having to cut off at least eight inches of my hair, because I did not want a full bob,” said Logan. “So before the first snip, I was really nervous that they were going to cut off too much. However, I remembered who I was cutting my hair for, and I knew wholeheartedly that I was not going to back out now.”
Afterwards, she noted that her adjustment to the shorter hairstyle took some time.
“When my stylist did the final touch ups, I am not going to lie… I really didn’t like it at first,” said Logan. “But after the initial shock wore off, it started to grow on me. I realized I just wasn’t used to the length. Now, I honestly love my short hair and feel like it suits me better for this next chapter in college.”
Despite the unease, the group felt inspired and fulfilled, knowing that it went to a good cause. They also advocate for those with enough hair to donate.
“I was more excited [to cut my hair]. I’d been wanting to change my look up anyways,” said senior Samantha Munoz. “It feels really fulfilling [to donate]; one of my favorite things is helping out other people, so this felt like a really good, important opportunity.”
The sense of accomplishment was felt all around the room on donation day.
“Knowing that my hair is going to help build a child’s confidence is one of the best feelings I have ever experienced,” said Logan. “This is my very first donation drive like this, and it definitely won’t be my last. It makes me want to keep giving whatever I can to help make someone else feel amazing about themselves.”
Rivera suggests others donate “because it will grow back and it feels amazing to donate in such a beautiful way, and it could be the change you didn’t know you needed.”
The next donation event will be in the spring of 2028, so start growing those locks now.
