Locked together for love

Go to the barber any day of the week and you might get a decent conversation and a few laughs out of your 10- to 30-minute hair cut, but go to Adams Elementary School for a trim and you might get more than 100 cheering children rooting you on as your locks get snipped.

That is exactly what happened Monday afternoon when 21 students and three adults decided to have their hair cut and donated to Locks of Love, a charity that creates and sells hair pieces for children with cancer or alopecia, a disease in which children permanently lose all their hair.

“[The students] really have a desire to help others,” teacher Alison Walske said.

A friend who had donated her hair encouraged Walske to do the same. When she decided to grow her hair out, she offered it to some of the children in her class. Word spread and the event grew to a school wide function, with more than 120 students coming to watch the children, and some adults, cut at least 10 inches of hair off and donate it.

Nancy Arroyo, a shy 10-year-old with long, thick hair, has never cut her hair before. Stretching all the way down her back, she decided her hair was too long and had 20 inches cut and donated.

“I am glad I can give it to people with cancer,” she said.

Before Nancy had her hair cut, Walske began the festivities by asking for a drum roll before one of her students, Sterling Gates, cut 10 inches off her hair. Sterling’s mother Karla, a hair stylist at Salon L in Newport Beach, came to the event with some co-workers to help cut the students’ hair.

“[The hair pieces] give kids the chance to be normal,” Walske said.

The event also served as an opportunity for students to learn about the diseases that affect other children. Before the hair-cutting event, the school had an assembly to teach the children about alopecia, which helped to inspire some children to donate.

“I feel happy because I am donating,” said 9-year-old Ariana Aparicio who hasn’t cut her hair in a year. “I am really proud of myself.”

HOW TO HELP

In a Ziploc bag, send at least 10 inches of dry hair, cut in a ponytail or braid to:

Locks of Love

2925 10th Ave. North, Suite 102

Lake Worth, FL 33461

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.locksoflove.org

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.