Villager Photos by Unsie Zuege

 SEE photos of Sarah Anderson’s haircut in progress. 

Hair Facts

Did you KNOW?

Human hair grows a ½ inch per month.

Locks of Love

Locks of Love is a nonprofit that provides hairpieces for children who suffer from long-term medical hair loss. It was started in 1997 by Madonna Coffman, a retired cardiac nurse. The real hair wigs are used to help children restore their self-esteem and confidence. For more information, visit www.locksoflove.org.

Local stylist promotes the season of giving selflessly for a good cause--Locks of Love

By Unsie Zuege

Staff Writer

Sarah Anderson’s eyes suddenly welled with tears at the sight of the silky golden hank of her hair, bound in a rubber band. Anderson, 20, of Chaska, has had long, down to her waist length hair since eighth grade. The only scissors she allowed near her was for an occasional trim.

As she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue, her coworkers offered encouragement and congratulations, including her boss Vicki Stahlke of Chaska. Stahlke has a daycare in Chaska and has known Anderson since she attended the daycare first as a child, then as an employee.  

“You did it!”

“It looks great!”

“Aren’t you proud?”

Over the years, Stahlke and Johnson’s friends have teased her to get a haircut, something that has a “style,” Stahlke said. “Then we heard about Locks of Love. We asked Sara if she’d like to donate her hair. And it worked. She’ll do anything for kids.”

Locks of Love, a non-profit organization, makes wigs of human hair for children and adults with medical hair loss. Donors visit participating salons that cut, package and send the tresses to Locks of Love. Usually salons charge for the subsequent haircut and styling.

But Tammy Rollo always felt funny about that.

Rollo owns Salon Zurich in Chaska at the Jonathan Square Mall at Pioneer Trail and Highway 41. Over the years, she’s charged hair donators half price for the subsequent cut and styling but it didn’t feel right, she said.

This holiday season seemed like the right time to launch a message that the most meaningful gift you can give is of yourself, Rollo said. Not only volunteering your time to a good cause, for example, but by doing something truly personal—donating your hair for a good cause.

Last week Rollo kicked off what she hopes will be an annual event in salons across the state and the country. On Thursday, Nov. 30, she and her salon employees gave free haircuts and styling to anyone who came in to donate their hair to Locks of Love. The salon publicized the all-day event by distributing fliers in local elementary and middle school backpacks, contacting the Chaska Community Center, and local churches.

She’d like Gov. Tim Pawlenty issue a proclamation to establish Locks of Love Day as Nov. 30 beginning in 2007. She and her friend Kim Grant of Chanhassen recently contacted Carver County Commissioner Tom Workman to help initiate the process.

“It’s a way for hair stylists to give back their communities,” Rollo said, “and to teach people that there are more meaningful ways to give of yourself during the holidays.”

Forty-five minutes after she first sat down in the stylist chair for her haircut, Anderson took her foot-long blonde tresses to the table at the front of the salon. She closed her eyes and held her ponytail up to her nose breathing in her softly scented hair before gently adding it to the others.   

Tammy Rollo’s inspiration

Sara Johnson

Tammy Rollo babysat for Sara Johnson in Brooklyn Park. As Johnson grew up, the two became friends. Johnson was diagnosed with leukemia at age 21, just before her wedding. She lost her hair from cancer treatment; Rollo colored and styled her human hair wig that looked and felt natural. It helped Johnson feel “normal” on the outside in the face of all the other issues she faced in fighting her cancer.

And throughout, Johnson’s positive, joyful attitude deeply impressed Rollo. “All the nurses wanted to be assigned to Sara’s room because it felt so warm and happy. It showed me the power of the positive. You have the choice to wake up everyday and be cranky, or you can move on to be better and make the most of every day.”

Johnson died five years ago. Afterwards, Rollo sought ways to spread Johnson’s message of joy. One night, she saw a TV program about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Inspired, she and friend Kim Grant volunteered at Children’s Hospitals in Minnesota—Minneapolis, for 2 ½ years. They brought balloons, music, face painting, and positive energy to young patients. Even the medical staff joined in.  “I got more than I gave them,” Rollo reflected. “It was empowering to give joy.”

Salon clients

Over the years, Rollo has shared the emotional rollercoaster that her salon clients experience when diagnosed with cancer, many with breast cancer. Stylists and clients have a special relationship, Rollo said, that becomes even more personal when cancer comes into the picture. They come to the salon to be cared for and nurtured.

Most striking though, is the invisible network of cancer survivors who lend support to others. “These women have stories to tell,” Rollo said. “They did it. They made it.” If she had “Oprah” funding, Rollo would launch a TV network that would run inspirational cancer survivor stories 24/7—a fee-free network that cancer patients could tune into for comfort and reassurance anytime--day or night--for uplifting messages of hope.