Students can get a free haircut and donate to a charitable cause at the same time this weekend at Fantastic Sams hair salon in the Northwest Plaza.
The salon chain will play host to a national cut-a-thon from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday to benefit Locks of Love, a not-for-profit organization that uses human hair to create hairpieces for children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.
Locks of Love is excited about the event, even though it didn't have to do much work for it, Susan Stone, executive director of Locks of Love, said.
"It's our first year and we're very excited about it. Fantastic Sams has supported Locks of Love for a long time, and this year they increased the level of effort by about 1000 percent," Stone said. "They've taken on most of the administration, and we really haven't had to do much, which is great."
In 2004, the Indiana/Kentucky region of Fantastic Sams donated the highest number of ponytails to Locks of Love.
Nationally, Fantastic Sams hopes to raise $500,000 from the donated hair and other fund-raising efforts. The salon will give complimentary haircuts to anyone who donates 10 inches or more of hair, and $1 will be donated for each haircut given, whether for a donation or not, Stone said.
Electric blue silicone rubber bracelets, called Fantastic Friends bracelets, will be sold for $1 and people can bring used computer ink cartridges in to be recycled with the Ink Jet Collection program. The Ink Jet Collection program will give $1.50 to Locks of Love for each cartridge donated.
Fantastic Sams has donated 6,000 ponytails to Locks of Love, and Ellen Soltau, owner of the Fantastic Sams salon in Muncie, hopes to add to that number Saturday.
"I would like to see 20 ponytails donated," Soltau said. "I think that would be a real success."
It takes about six to 10 ponytails to make one hairpiece, and anyone can donate.
"It's not just women," Soltau said. "Men with ponytails can donate also."
To learn more about Locks of Love and get information on monetary and hair donations or to see if a child qualifies for a hairpiece, visit www.locksoflove.org.
"We don't have a waiting list for families right now," Stone said. "We have room for more children."
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