An interesting article at The New York Times about what happens to all that hair that people donate to charities like Locks of Love. According to Locks of Love, as much as 80 percent of the hair donated is unusable for various reasons (too short, processed, grey, wet). The hair that does make it through often ends up being sold, and not being made into wigs for those who have lost their hair due to cancer treatments.


Most of the wigs that Locks of Love do make actually go to children with alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder, and not cancer patients.

According to Madonna Coffman, president of Locks of Love, the organization receives up to 10 postal bins of hair a day, most destined for the trash. Coffman notes that checks would be "easier," but "Would the donors get out of it what they do? No."


Source: TheCancerBlog