Beautiful Lengths calls for hair, a lot of it, to be donated to the American Cancer Society to make wigs for women who have lost their hair to chemotherapy treatments.
Monday, Oct. 27 marked one of the first pledge nights for the third annual Keene State College hosted event, Beautiful Lengths, which will be held in April 2015.
Allie Bedell, KSC alumnus from the class of 2014, brought the Pantene-sponsored event to campus in 2012, after having participated in the events hosted at her own high school.
KSC will be hosting the event for the third year in a row, come April.
Jake Coughlin / Multimedia Director
Since her freshman year in 2012, Alyssa DeMarco has donated 28 inches of hair at the two Beautiful Lengths events that were already hosted on campus.
“Everyone was really supportive,” DeMarco said of her family and friends when she first decided to donate.
While the 2015 event is DeMarco’s first year running it, it will be her third year being involved.
“Beautiful Lengths will take hair from anyone and they use as much as they possibly can,” DeMarco explained, “The only restriction is that they don’t want it to have been dyed in the last six months and they only allow a certain percentage of grey.”
DeMarco continued, explaining the process of what happens after the initial donation of the hair, “They take six eight-inch ponytails to make a wig and then they go through the American Cancer Society to donate them.”
DeMarco explained that through other organizations, women may have to pay for the wigs, as they’re not considered a necessary part of cancer treatment.
“I think it’s just a really amazing organization,” DeMarco continued, “If you go on Pantene’s website they have a whole blog keeping people updated on donation day events.”
At first, DeMarco was skeptical about donating her own hair.
“I thought about how hard it was for me to voluntarily cut off eight inches of my hair, whereas women going through chemotherapy don’t have a choice. So that was difficult,” DeMarco noted, before continuing, “But I love donating. It’s just getting a haircut! And we have stylists come in afterwards, so it’s a really nice process.”
DeMarco said she hopes to donate her hair again at the 2016 event when it’s long enough.
“It’s only eight inches,” DeMarco noted of what Beautiful Lengths is asking for, “If you’ve got eight, donate!”
In total, between Locks of Love and Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths, Jaime Drisdelle has participated in four events, donating ten or more inches of hair each time.
Now a junior at KSC, Drisdelle said she got involved with donating her hair at a young age.
“In preschool, my friend Jake found out that he had cancer,” Drisdelle explained, “When he came back to school after losing his hair, he wasn’t as happy as he had been.”
The first time Drisdelle donated her hair it was for her friend.“I [donated] two times in honor of Jake and once in memory of him,” Drisdelle continued, “I also lost my Grandpa to cancer in 2013, so I decided to donate my hair in memory of my grandfather and Jake.”
After her four experiences with donating her hair, Drisdelle said she would recommend that anyone who has the length should donate.
“I was incredibly excited to cut it. I was counting down the days until the event,” Drisdelle explained, “I wasn’t scared whatsoever. I felt honored that my hair could help brighten someone’s day. I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life.”
Like Drisdelle, Katherine Marren has a more personal reason for deciding to participate in the Beautiful Lengths event.“In my freshman year, November 2012, my mom got diagnosed with stage one breast cancer,” Marren, a KSC junior, explained.
“Thankfully, she didn’t need to go through [Chemotherapy]; she didn’t lose her hair,” Marren continued of her mother’s experience, “She only had to go through radiation, but because of that I kind of realized how horrible it is to watch someone you love go through cancer and feel as though there’s nothing you can really do to help them.”
Marren said that donating hair was a way for her to help women who experienced what her mother was going through.
“It also helped me to feel less helpless and support other families who go through it, too,” Marren said.
“My mom was really lucky. She didn’t need chemo and she didn’t lose her hair, but so many moms and so many families do,” Marren continued, “I wanted to help because I know how scary it is for them.”
At the Beautiful Lengths 2013 event hosted in the KSC Spaulding Gymnasium, Marren donated nine inches of hair.
“All of my roommates cut my hair,” Marren added, “Actually, we all cut out hair together. We all pledged in September and cut in April.”
Marren was excited to cut her hair and said that it was an amazing experience.
“Hair grows back,” Marren said, “It’s an incredible experience to cut your hair and know it’s going to someone with cancer with a hundred other girls — knowing that you’re all doing it together, for the same reason.”
Marren continued, “It’s a really amazing thing. And you feel so much better after. You’re really making a difference and helping people. It’s so easy. You don’t have to do anything. You just cut your hair.”
Marren strongly encouraged others to pledge to donate their hair as well, and noted that it’s as easy as the Beautiful Lengths slogans claims, “Grow, cut, donate!”
“I’d always wanted to donate my hair. I don’t know why I never did,” Bridgette Normandin, a junior at KSC, said of cutting and donating nine inches of her hair during the Beautiful Lengths event hosted on campus last year. Normandin admitted that she was more excited than scared of taking scissors to her hair.
“I thought I was going to be nervous, but it got to a point where my hair was just so long,” Normandin continued, “I just really needed a haircut. I needed something new and different.”
While Normandin was excited, it was her mother who was against the idea at first. “I got her to come cut my hair, even though she was really nervous about it,” Normandin said, “She really didn’t want to do it, but I asked her to. I think the whole experience really changed her perspective.”
Normandin continued, “We were definitely crying at the end. It was a really nice experience.” The event has been growing in popularity, according to Normandin.
“The numbers from the first event doubled in just one year. The support we got was really amazing,” Normandin said, “Anyone can donate — even guys. As long as you have eight inches of hair to cut, anyone can do it.”
The Beautiful Lengths 2015 event at KSC will take place on Saturday, April 11. Normandin mentioned that pledge nights will happen about once a month and will be advertised around campus, the next one being Monday, Nov. 24.
“I want people to realize that it’s only hair they’re donating,” Normandin noted, “I know a lot of girls are attached to their long hair, but it’ll grow back.”
Jill Giambruno can be contacted at jgiambruno@keene-equinox.com
