viewfinder: Locks of Love

Locks of Love

Her hair grows so fast. She cut 14 inches off, twice, and she's only 7 years old.

"God gave me hair that grows fast, so I've got to donate it," said second-grader Talia Sacco. "That's why I give it away."

Talia and her aunt Maggie Suddath cut off 32 collective inches of hair for Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that specializes in making wigs for children. The pair's most recent trip to the salon marked Talia's second time donating hair. She was 5 her first time. It was Maggie's fifth.

Dressed as a pixie for Halloween, Talia sat in the chair of the Lord and Lynn Salon, wincing as her older sister wrapped a rubber band around her long braid. Stylist Traci-Lynn Davy-Drake gripped slightly above the ponytail holder and scissored away most of Talia's long brown hair.

"I think a little girl will get my hair," said Talia. "But it would be cool if two kids could use it."

As many as 10 pony tails are needed to make one wig.

When it was over, Talia and Maggie compared their freshly shorn locks. Stretched out, Maggie's reached nearly 17 inches. She beat Talia by two inches.

"If I can make a kid look normal and feel better about themselves while they're going through this horrible treatment," said Maggie, "then what can I say? It's a good thing to do."

She would know. Maggie watched her mother die of breast cancer. Her own breast cancer has been in remission for two years. Talia's 12-year-old sister Mariesol endured cancer three different times.

Donating hair has become their family affair.