A hair-growing experience

About a year ago, eight-year-old Spencer Chrein, a third-grader at Marion Street School in the Lynbrook School District, read an article in the Herald featuring two girls who had just donated their hair to the Locks for Love Foundation.

“He had me explain what it was all about and asked me if boys can donate too,” said Spencer’s mother, Amy. “I said yes, they can, but that most boys wouldn’t be able to grow their hair long enough to donate.”

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Spencer, who according to his mother already had a long hairstyle by boys’ standards, decided that growing his hair for this cause was going to be easy — after all, he wasn’t going to miss taking the time out from baseball, football and all the other activities that he so enjoys just to get his hair cut! “As parents, we made the rule of always keeping it clean, brushed and out of his eyes,” said Amy. ”In the beginning this wasn’t a problem but as his hair grew longer and longer so did the many unique challenges facing a boy with very long hair.”

At the time that his hair started to reach his shoulders and definitely when it went beyond, Spencer was beginning to be mistaken for a girl — a difficult thing for an eight-year-old boy. But Spencer had a goal in mind and he decided to shrug it off. Over time he was met with many a questioning remark from teachers, neighbors, his peers and most recently his East Rockaway Raiders football coaches, who continually suggested that he cut his hair. But Spencer, without offering an explanation to his critics, chose to keep growing it.

Last weekend, Spencer has finally met his goal and Roseanne Strife, of After Shock Salon in East Rockaway, graciously donated the hair cut that made Spencer’s hair donation possible. On Monday, Spencer unveiled his new short hair at school and was met with many compliments, not only about his new haircut, but for the benevolent reason behind it.

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