Locks of Love

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Its mission is to return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffer-ing from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children. The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

Submitted photo

Leah was only six months old when her mother Tracy was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Sperling family, clockwise from left, Tracy Wright-Sperling, Peter Sperling, holding Leah, Lauren, and Lindsey.

BY UNSIE ZUEGE

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One year ago, Leah Sperling watched her older sister Lauren get her hair cut at Kids’ Hair, Chanhassen, and donate her thick brown hair to Locks of Love.

On Oct. 12, Leah, age 6, of Chanhassen, was able to do the same. Click here to see her haircut.

She spent the last year growing out her fine blonde hair, and when salon manager Stevie Nytes of Kids’ Hair, Chanhassen, tied it into two pony tails and snipped, Leah had donated nine-inches of her golden hair.

After a quick blow dry and brush out, she walked out of the salon with a sassy swingy bob with bangs.

“Look how thick your hair is!” Nytes said. “Now your sisters can’t say you have skinny hair anymore!”

The Sperling sisters, Lauren, Lindsey and Leah have now all donated hair to Locks of Love. For the young girls, it’s a meaningful gesture of love. Their mother Tracy Ann Wright-Sperling died May 2, 2009, at age 39. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer six months after having given birth to her third daughter Leah, who is now 6. Early in Tracy’s cancer treatment, when she began radiation treatment, she lost her hair, so she bought a human hair wig.

“Where does the hair come from?” the girls wondered. Tracy explained that many people donate their own hair for these wigs, because they know how important it is to feel good about how you look when you have cancer, or lose your hair because of some other medical condition.“

Throughout her illness, Tracy focused on maintaining a happy and loving family life.

Tracy and her husband Peter Sperling were childhood sweethearts in Solon Springs in northern Wisconsin. Tracy was a star ath-lete in high school—all conference in volleyball, basketball and softball, and was the second female basketball player to surpass the 1,000 point career scoring mark in the school’s history.

She was also a star student and was valedictorian of her high school graduating class, graduated magna cum laude from the Uni-versity of Wisconsin-Superior, and went on to teach mathematics, first at Hopkins West Junior High, then at Hopkins High School. In 2000, she got a master’s degree in teaching mathematics from the University of Minnesota.

In 1995, she and Peter and moved to Chanhassen. Tracy continued to teach, Peter started his own company, and eventually they had three girls, Lauren, Lindsey, and Leah.

“Family was everything to Tracy,” her mother-in-law Barbara Sperling said. “Tracy was a fighter and wanted to treat the cancer aggressively.”

After Tracy died, Lauren made it her mission to grow out her hair and donate it, for use by other cancer victims like her mother.

Earlier this year, Lindsey did the same, and now Leah has joined the club.