The students crowded into the makeshift beauty salon at Lower Cape May Regional High School on Friday May 15 were nervous, but resolute.
Senior Erin Seer winced uneasily as hairstylist Charity Rhoades of Ambiance Hair Designs in Wildwood pulled her long brown hair into a loose ponytail, and unceremoniously snipped it off. Her classmates surveyed the damage while they waited their turn.
“You can’t even tells it’s gone,” one said, as Rhoades continued styling Seer’s long hair, now six inches shorter.
The ponytail she clipped off was labeled and placed in a Ziploc bag and delivered to a nearby table where volunteers and teacher/organizer, Denise Murray, filed it for delivery to Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children, who suffer from long-term medical hair loss from any medical condition. The organization’s goal is to provide a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss.
“Children suffering from a diseases just want to seem like everybody else,” Murray said. She should know; she is a cancer survivor. She says the hairpieces and wigs provided by Locks of Love provide a sense of normalcy during difficult times.
“And when all is said and done they know they are not alone,” she said.
Murray has sponsored Locks of Love events for years, beginning as a student at Absecon High School and then as a college student at University of Delaware. It does a lot of good for sick kids, but Murray says there are benefits to those who line up for a haircut as well.
“It makes them feel good about themselves,” Murray said. “It’s completely selfless. It’s a sacrifice they can make that is completely their own.”
This story was first published at capemaycountyherald.com. Contact Cawley at: (609) 886-8600 ext. 47 or mcawley@cmcherald.com
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
