It was only her second haircut ever, but Jocelyn Mejia sat still and smiling, occasionally giggling when hairdresser Diane Brustein told her how beautiful her new haircut looked.
While most people’s second haircut might come at a young age, Mejia, of Hillcrest, is 10-years-old. She got her haircut Wednesday at , where Brustein is the manager.
“We trimmed her hair a little bit, but she didn’t get a haircut until three years ago,” said Yvette Mejia, Jocelyn’s mother.
When they decided to get Jocelyn’s haircut three years ago, they did some research and decided to donate the hair to Locks For Love, a non-profit organization that “provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis,” according to the organization’s website.
“We researched what they do with the hair and how to donate it, and it just seemed like a good thing to do,” Yvette Mejia said. “Plus, she’s a girl scout, so she likes helping others out.”
Yvette Mejia and Jocelyn decided it was time for another haircut this summer, and Jocelyn said she wanted to donate the hair again.
“Many people need hair, and, of course, mine will just grow back,” she said. “What’s the point of not just cutting it?”
Brustein said she tries to donate hair to the organization twice a month. She said the organization asks for donations to be 10 inches or longer, as 10 inches is the minimum needed to make a hairpiece. But she said they’ll take shorter donations that are sold to offset manufacturing costs. She added that people who cut their hair specifically to donate it usually get some sort of discount.
On Wednesday, Jocelyn Mejia had more than a foot of hair cut off, leaving her with hair that falls down to her jawline. She said she’s not sure when she’ll get her haircut again, but most likely she’ll wait a while and donate it again.
“My daughter is very mature for her age,” Yvette Mejia said. “She just likes to help people.”
