By Nicole Falco
She endured months of tangles and maintenance with a selfless goal in mind. The 13-year-old Valley Streamer decided to grow her hair long so she could donate it to Locks of Love. "Locks" is a Florida-based not-for-profit organization, started in December 1997, that uses donated hair and resources to fashion hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children under 18-years-old who have medical hair loss. "Locks" receives approximately 1,500 ponytails per week.
According to a "Locks" spokesperson, Laura Pansolli, it takes as many as 14 ponytails to make each wig depending on the patient's desired length. Since 1997, "Locks" has provided 700 hairpieces to those in need. Each wig generally takes about four months to make. If a child had to purchase a wig independently of "Locks," an average wig might cost upwards of $3,000.
"My mom had cancer and I remember her losing all her hair. My hair was so long so I figured I would donate it. A bunch of my friends have been doing it, too," Alison said.
Alison kept her promise and had 10 inches of her thick, brown hair cut from her head in a straight-line snip of her hair stylist's scissors. Ten inches is the minimum amount of hair necessary in order to make a donation. Hair shorter than 10 inches can still be donated to "Locks" to make a boy's hairpiece or can be sold at "market value" to offset manufacturing costs.
Virginia Stigliano, a family friend and hair stylist at Tony Sarica's Tonsorial Artists of Lynbrook, was chosen to make the cut.
"[Tonsorial Artists] put up the sign [for "Locks"] a couple of months ago and I have done it two or three times since then," Stigliano said.
Tonsorial Artists has donated hair at the request of a number of customers over the years, but a Woodmere teen, Suzanne Szalai, recently asked if she could leave a few brochures describing "Locks" and put a sign up in the shop urging others to donate their hair. Szalai, a Girl Scout, hopes to collect the donated hair, herself, and donate it to "Locks" in order to keep a record of her efforts to send to the Girl Scout Gold Award Committee.
First a wash, then the haircut. Alison and her mom, JoAnn, looked at the long hair for the last time.
"I'm scared for you. Your hair is going to be so short," JoAnn said.
"It's not going to be that short. It'll be cut shoulder length," Alison said before it was cut.
After Stigliano made the cut, Alison said, "Oh my God, Oh my God! It's so short. It feels so different. It feels so much lighter."
Indeed, it was lighter. It was easier, too, for Stigliano to blow dry and it is now easier for Alison to style.
"I'm very proud of my daughter. She has been talking about this for a while. I'm proud of her determination to do this. She is a very caring young girl," JoAnn said.
JoAnn and her husband, Pat, a Village of Valley Stream Parks Department supervisor, are both extremely proud of their daughter's good deed.
Christmas Eve in 1994, of all days, JoAnn was diagnosed with stage-two breast cancer. At the time, Alison was five and her brother, Brian was 10-years-old.
"Even at 5-years-old you think they do not really understand, but they do. They understand everything I went through. I think it really struck a cord with her. She was always sensitive to people who have cancer," JoAnn said. "Losing your hair is one of the scariest things about chemo. That's why I think Alison is doing such a great thing. If an adult is scared about losing their hair, imagine how a kid feels."
JoAnn has had regular check-ups since the cancer went into remission and has been cancer-free. Since fighting her own battle, JoAnn has been doing a lot of breast cancer awareness advocacy with a Long Island-based group called SHARE.
"With the right treatment you can overcome a disease that is normally thought of as terminal," JoAnn said.
The "new" Alison was happy with the end result of Stigliano's work and for the fact that a youngster with medical hair loss will be happier for it.
"I love it. I really like it," Alison said. "All my friends have the same hairstyle. Before it was just so long I couldn't do anything with it anymore. It was just so heavy."
