start off transition with a bang!

[bballshorty]

for those of you who have long hair and are wanting to cut it when you start transitioning, why not consider donating your hair to a cancer foundation so they can make wigs for cancer patients? =) then, you can have a great excuse for cutting your hair

this is just a random idea that popped into my head.

[Jam]

Thats a good idea, mine was too short anyways. Would have been lucky to make eyebrows from it

[conformer]

Yep! I did that when I first began transitioning some time ago. It was a pretty good excuse, I got a bunch of praise from the people at my school

[Adio]

That's what I did when I first got my hair cut shorter.  Donated it to Locks for Love, I think it was called.

[Lee]

Mine was too short, but I remember my brother doing that when he got his cut.  It's a great program.  Good idea.

[Dante]

I did that when I first cut my hair short. I'm not sure how many inches I was able to donate though.

[wheat thins are delicious]

Locks of Love is corrupt.  They throw out about 90% of their donations received because of damage or not the right length or whatever.  The wigs they make they sell.  They've only donated about 11 or so.  There is a lot of info out there about it.

I would only ever donate to Matter of Trust which makes mats of hair to clean oils spills.  They take any hair length with any damage.

[Devin87]

If you can get people to sponsor you, do what I did-- shave it for St. Baldrick's Foundation.  Then you get to start out with really, really short hair.  And after that, no matter how short you keep it, it seems long in comparison.  It makes a bit more of a splash, so some people might think you're crazy, but 99% of them will respect you for doing it even if they do think you're crazy.

[bballshorty]

For Canadians, check this out http://www.cancer.ca/British%20Columbia-Yukon/Support%20Services/Hair%20donations.aspx?sc_lang=en

Some places are listed there, but they're all companies so I'm not quite sure what's going on. I haven't started transitioning so I don't know anything, tell me if there's a legit Canadian foundation worth donating to =)

[Devlyn]

What part of having a disease ravage your family and starting a charity to fight it is corrupt? Andy, your numbers are way off, you shouldn't spread misinformation. And I'll be dipped in ->-bleeped-<- if I ever donate my hair to clean up after some oil company. Hugs, Devlyn

[wheat thins are delicious]

Their wigs go to children with alopecia not cancer, usually at a reduced price, yes, but still misleading.  80% of the donations they receive are either thrown out due to the damage or sold.  Only recently, in 2010, did the BBB list them as a reputable charity, where as before they didn't meet the standards due to not accurately reporting the information when requested.

[Devlyn]

But that's what she raises the money for. It's not misleading to do what you say you're doing. I think a lot of people see a bald child and assume cancer? Hugs, Devlyn

[Felix]

I donated mine to Locks of Love because the Deepwater Horizon thing had just happened and the oil cleanup agencies I looked into said they had too many donations and weren't able to use them at the time. It's a shame that Locks of Love apparently isn't what they appear to be. I haven't looked into it, though.

[Devlyn]

If you do look into it, you'll find that Locks Of Love provides hairpieces for children with PERMANENT hair loss. I'm not a doctor, and some cancers may cause hair loss, but I believe it is mainly chemo and radiation that are responsible. And I believe it grows back. This thread has everyone blaming Johnny Applecart for not having oranges. Hugs, Devlyn

[AndrewL]

I donated to locks of love twice. First when I took my hair from my mid-back to shoulder length. The final time, a week before I came out was a ponytail that was only .5" longer than required that meant that the only option I had was a buzz cut. Now I buzz out of habit and I get fidgety if I can grab my hair.

[bballshorty]

I think we've had enough about Locks of Love ^ ^ I took the edit off.

I guess the danger of donating to ANY organization is that they might be corrupt. Either way, we tried to do our share of charity.

[Devlyn]

Thank you, bballshorty. I think you did the right thing. Hugs, Devlyn

[N.Chaos]

That's what I did when I first got my hair cut shorter.  Donated it to Locks for Love, I think it was called.

Same here, I believe I donated 14-15 inches. Pretty awesome.