Girl cuts hair for good cause
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

CARIN NATHANSON/Special to The Acorn LOVE GIFT- Oak Hills Elementary School fifth-grade student Drew Nathanson smiles while more than one foot of her hair is cut off. The locks will be donated to a child in need.

Having long hair was painful for Drew Nathanson, 10, of Oak Park. It took about an hour to comb out the knots after a shampoo. But the Oak Hills Elementary School fifthgrader refused to cut it, letting it grow for nearly two years, to a length long enough to donate.

On Dec. 29, Drew finally had almost a foot of her hair cut off to give to another child.

Three thick ponytails made of Drew's hair were sent to Locks of Love, a Floridabased nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who suffer from longterm hair loss due to medical reasons.

Locks of Love sets guidelines for those who want to donate hair, which must be a minimum of 10 inches long.

After the cut at Bella Amore Day Spa and Salon in Simi Valley, Drew had mixed feelings about her now shoulder length thick dark brown hair. The painful knots are gone but so are her beautiful long tresses.

"I was a little sad because it's not long anymore and I can't put it up, but I'm happy because it's going to a good cause," Drew said.

Her friends loved her new look and one even got a similar cut.

Kathleen Wahlstrom, who cuts Drew's mom, Carin Nathanson's, hair, also cut Drew's. Wahlstrom has worked on other clients for Locks of Love.

"Kathleen knew how to bundle it, package it and send it," Nathanson said.

Drew heard about Locks of Love when she was 8 and her mother saw a newspaper ad for the organization. Drew decided she wanted to grow her hair for donation even though it meant dealing with knots for a long time.

"Many times I said, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'" Nathanson said.

Drew always answered that if she ever needed hair, she hoped another little girl would provide it.

Drew's already on to her next project. She and a friend recently sold cookies in their neighborhood to raise money for an animal rescue project.

"You realize how good it feels to give," Nathanson said. "I'm proud of her."

For more information, visit www.locksoflove.org.