Locks of Love

File:Locks of love 2 (cropped 2).jpg

Locks of Love was founded by Madonna W. Coffman on May 28, 1997. Coffman was a registered nurse who had suffered from alopecia in her twenties. Coffman's daughter also had alopecia and lost all her hair at the age 4. Locks of Love received a determination of its 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service in December 1997."[http://www.locksoflove.org/history.html History]". Locks of Love. Retrieved March 11, 2012. By September 2006, Locks of Love had provided about 2,000 wigs to recipients completely free of charge.Hayt, Elizabeth (September 6, 2007). "[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/fashion/06locks.html Lather, Rinse, Donate]". The New York Times. Retrieved March 11, 2012.

file:Locks of Love Aviano 6.jpg Aviano Air Base in Italy]]

Financial donations to Locks of Love are tax-deductible as charitable contributions to the extent of the law."[https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p526.pdf Publication 526: Charitable Contributions] (pdf). Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved June 1, 2011."[https://locksoflove.org/faq/ Frequently Asked Questions]". Locks of Love. Retrieved October 21, 2020. The Internal Revenue Service considers hair to be a body part, and donations of body parts are not considered tax deductible by the Internal Revenue Service. The cost of the haircut, however, may be a tax-deductible charitable contribution.

The best quality hair donated to Locks of Love is sent to a wig manufacturer, Taylormade hair Replacement in Millbrae, California. The highest quality long hair is used to make a wig for a child. Gray hair, overly processed hair, too-short hair, bleached hair, and hair that is otherwise not high enough quality for a child's wig is sold, and the proceeds are used to further the organization's mission, such as grants for medical research into alopecia. In 2007, Locks of Love said that about 80 percent of the hair donated to it is not suitable to be made into a child's wig.

In 2013, Forbes and The Huffington Post reported that up to US$6{{nbsp}}million-worth of hair donations are unaccounted for by the charity each year.Chao, Kent (May 13, 2013). "[https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/05/13/locks-of-love-6-million-of-hair-donations-unaccounted-for-each-year/ Locks Of Love: $6 Million Of Hair Donations Unaccounted For Each Year]". Forbes. Retrieved April 21, 2014.{{ugc|reason=The Forbes post is sourced from Quora.|date=December 2022}}Goldberg, Eleanor (May 14, 2013). "[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/locks-of-love-controversy_n_3269078.html Locks Of Love Has More Than $6 Million Worth Of Donated Hair That Is Unaccounted For: Report]". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2014. Snopes pointed out that the discrepancies can be attributed to the difficulty of valuing hair and that Locks of Love's tax filing shows no income that would result from black market hair sales.{{Cite web |author=Snopes Staff |date=2015-03-03 |title=Does Locks of Love Sell Donated Hair? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/donated-hair/ |access-date=2022-12-31 |website=Snopes |language=en}}

During its 2018 fiscal year, Locks of Love received $513,103 of revenue, and it incurred $724,897 of expenses.

File:Astronauts Joan Higginbotham (STS-116) and Sunita Williams (Expedition 14) on the International Space Station.jpg (background) and Joan E. Higginbotham (foreground) in the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory. The hair did not clog the instrument panel, as was feared.]]

After launching aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, astronaut Sunita Williams arranged to donate her ponytail to Locks of Love. Fellow astronaut Joan Higginbotham cut her hair aboard the International Space Station, and the ponytail was brought back to Earth by the STS-116 crew."[http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-121906a.html Astronaut cuts her hair in space for charity]". CollectSpace.com. December 20, 2006. Retrieved June 8, 2007.

All-American football player and Chicago Bears first-round draft pick Gabe Carimi's maternal uncle suffered from leukemia as a child, underwent chemotherapy while he was in second grade, and lost his hair in the process. At nine years old, his uncle died. He was mentioned often in family discussions.Mason (April 23, 2010). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20101229005313/http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082310aaa.html Lots of locks means lots of love from Carimi: Wisconsin senior donates hair to charity aimed at improving life for ill children]". University of Wisconsin. Archived from [http://www.uwbadgers.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/082310aaa.html the original] on December 29, 2010. Carimi thought he would do something "that wouldn't take a lot of my time but would help other people". He grew his hair for 20 months, until it was long enough to donate to Locks of Love in 2010.

Professional wrestler The Honky Tonk Man has stated that he donates his hair to Locks of Love once a year.BirdHands on Youtube (2018-03-21). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlRfFL8RkSw Wrestling Shoot Interview Honky Tonk Man on Abdullah The Butcher at WWE HOF]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616152832/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlRfFL8RkSw |date=2019-06-16 }}

National Hockey League player George Parros has grown his hair long since the start of his professional hockey career, so he can donate it to Locks of Love."[http://ducks.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=469182 Parros Cuts Hair for a Cause]". Anaheim Ducks. December 17, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2011.

{{Commons category}}

• Zichron Menachem

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://locksoflove.org}}
• [//give.org/charity-reviews/national/Children-and-Youth/Locks-of-Love-in-West-Palm-Beach-fl-1839 BBB Charity Reports - Locks of Love]
• [//www.charitynavigator.org/ein/650755522 Charity Navigator Report: Locks of Love]
• [//www.guidestar.org/organizations/65-0755522/locks-love.aspx GuideStar Basic Report for Locks of Love]

Category:Charities based in Florida

Category:Hairdressing

Category:Health charities in the United States

Category:Medical and health organizations based in Florida