Guest Author - Jaclyn Michelle Kratzer

This year we have heard that money is tight and everybody finds it is hard to save money or they struggle to fill up their gas tanks. It seems impossible to think about giving to charity.

It is important to know that not all charitable contributions have to cost money. A person can donate their time, love, compassion, and labor. If you have the time and the physical capabilities, you can consider donating to Habitat for Humanity. Whether you are by yourself, with your family or part of a community team helping to build a house for somebody in need can be very rewarding. If physical labor is something that does not appeal to you, you can consider serving or cooking meals for the needy at a local shelter or soup kitchen.

“Locks of Love” gives you the chance of giving a part of yourself to others. This organization takes human hair from donators and makes wigs for children who have lost their hair while undergoing treatment for an illness. If you go to your beauty technician or your local salon you can ask them if they will send in your hair donation. The donation must be at least ten inches long and be cut off in a ponytail fashion. Ten inches may be like a lot of hair, but it can take up to two inches of hair for many factories to make a wig. As someone who has donated hair I can tell you that it is best to decide how long you want your hair to be after you get it cut and measure the beginning of the ponytail form there. Ponytails that are less than ten inches will not be accepted.

Colored and permed hair can be donated, but bleached hair and dreadlocks cannot be used. Bleach causes the hair to dissolve as it goes through the manufacturing process. When I began donating I wondered if I could meet the child that received my hair. When I contacted Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org) I found out that it takes between six to ten ponytails to make one wig. Therefore, for the organization would track where the ponytail goes. In addition, if you plan to donate your hair it is hard to claim it as a tax-deduction because it is hard to put a price on a ponytail. I was happy that I did get a very nice thank you from the organization. It hakes me about eighteen months to grow my hair to the right length but I smile when I can cut off that ponytail to give to a child in need.

In these hard economic times financially donating to a charity may seem like impossible. Donating does not always equate to money. Time, labor, and compassion, and even hair can make a big difference on someone’s life.