Thousand Locks Charity Hair Drive and Wellness Tour

tlctour

Thousand Locks Charity Hair Drive and Wellness Tour

tlctour

Please support our charity at http://www.indiegogo.com/tlctour;
I am donating my hair to make a wig for a woman with cancer who cannot afford it and organizing a charity hair drive to educate people about the specifics of hair donation with a goal to collect 1,000 ponytails for Beautiful Lengths, which will be distributed for free at American Cancer Society wig banks nationwide. More on Twitter @35by35 and @coverlook and at www.35by35.com

Short Summary

I am a beauty and lifestyle writer, and I'm donating my hair to make a wig for a woman with cancer who cannot afford one while undergoing treatment.

When I learned it takes nine donations to make just one wig, and realized I'd personally thrown away four of them in my lifetime, I knew I needed to make a bigger change than merely getting my hair cut. I enlisted the help of colleagues in the celebrity beauty business, and set a goal to spread awareness about the particulars of hair donation.

I set a goal to collect 1,000 ponytails and made plans to go on a summer hair "drive" to do it. I'll be kicking off the first-annual TLC tour in Seattle on June 8, and we'll be making stops between Portland, OR and Portland, ME before wrapping things up during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in NYC in September.

We'll present the proceeds of our drive to Beautiful Lengths at our Growing Hope Gala and Fashion Show on September 11, and I've petitioned Barack Obama to declare September 11 Hair Donation Day nationwide, beginnig this year.

What We Need

Our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo will be used to supplement  corporate sponsorships and individual donations we have already secured through our personal outreach efforts.

It will enable us to launch our charity and provide the funds for not just the summer tour expenses, but all the equipment we'll need to achieve our objectives: To conduct year-long educational and governmental outreach, and summer tour events annually.

 

Objectives

Conduct an annual hair drive to collect at least 1,000 ponytail donations and recruit new professional and press participants to the cause.

Organize public wellness events and wellness workshops for influential members of new and mainstream media outlets to maximize the TLC message.

Create a hub for the public to discover hair donation programs and free wig outlets globally.

Acquire commitment of each cosmetology board in the United States to incorporate simple hair donation education into accredited programs for hairstylist licensure.

Recruit and train salons worldwide to take hair donations correctly, and provide each with a supply kit for accepting and returning donations to be made into wigs.

Establish free wig programs worldwide where they do not currently exist, starting with Brazil.

The Impact

With the collection goal we've set for our summer drive alone, more than 100 women with cancer will receive free wigs. Our ongoing outreach efforts will ensure that no stylist ever discards hair that could be used to create a free wig, and that all salons will be equipped with kits that enable them to easily send donations for processing.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you are unable to help financially, that's OK. You can volunteer your time, share the message or pledge your ponytail for a free haircut.

If you have a business, perhaps you would like to sponsor our efforts.