Hip, Hip HAIRay!

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but her hair is often considered her crowning glory. The Bible speaks about hair, Broadway musicals were written about it and Rapunzel’s locks live on in the pages of fairy tales.

Women often believe their hair is an extension of themselves, and it can directly affect their self-esteem. Enough said. Hair is important.

Luckily, there are girls out there like Buffalo Grove’s Shaina Stark, a 12-year-old who attends . Shaina passionately believes in the Locks of Love organization, which takes hair donations and turns them into the most natural and amazing looking wigs for children who suffer from any hair loss disease.

What makes Shaina special is that she hasn’t just donated her hair; she’s donated three times! She started when she was only 8 years old. She says, “I wanted to do this so I could help kids who lost their hair because they were sick. I like having long hair though, so I grew it even longer (the next time) and wanted to donate it again.”

With 10 inches of hair the minimum donation amount, it’s not an easy task to grow that long again. Shaina isn’t sure yet if she’s ready to go for it a fourth time.

“It takes my hair at least a year and a half to two years to grow long enough to cut it," she said. "It's too soon for me to start thinking if I want to do this again. I always feel like I need to cut it off when it starts getting too long, but then I remember that I am helping kids that need it.”

Doing this three times is a selfless gift and she should be so proud of herself. Way to go Shaina, hopefully you’ll be an example and an inspiration to other kids as well.

As always, email me with any news, topics or ideas that you want to read about. Remember, I’d like to be the first to know! I can be reached at laurenbgpatch@aol.com.