Donating clothes, shoes and books is great, but don’t forget about hair. Though such donations require a lot more effort, charities around the country depend on these hair donations to make wigs for kids and adults who have lost their hair due to medical reasons. And one family just helped them out in a big way—by donating 17 feet of hair.
Phoebe Kannisto and her six sons have been growing out their hair for years, and just cut and donated it to the organization Children with Hair Loss. Phoebe, her eldest son Andre (10), her 8-year-old identical twins, Silas and Emerson and her 5-year-old fraternal triplets Herbie, Reed and Dexter all participated. Phoebe also has a 2-year-old daughter named Marah Taylor, but she didn’t have enough hair to help with the donations.
When the Kannisto family initially decided to grow out their hair, it was about more than just wanting to help out a charity. It was personal.
“Three years ago, my friend lost her son to cancer,” Kannisto told HuffPost. “He was a twin and very close in age to my twins. On the first anniversary of his passing, my three oldest boys donated their hair in his memory. Since their donation two years ago, our lives have continued to be touched by cancer. It’s everywhere. My boys want to help, and donating their hair is how they do it.”
The boys and Phoebe waited until everyone’s hair was the minimum length for donations (eight inches) before they did the big chop. Since hair grows at its own pace, it took quite awhile for everyone to be ready.
Today my SIX SONS and I donated our hair to Children With Hair Loss. A grand total of 17 feet of hair donated! I am so…
Posted by Phoebe LadyStanley Kannisto on Monday, April 24, 2017
The haircut occurred at Hizair Hair Salon, which brought the family in after regular hours and did the cuts for free. According to Kannisto, they wanted to donate their time since the family was donating their hair.
The boys are already planning their next hair donation, and their little sister wants in on it this time.
“I love that they want to help other children,” Kannisto told HuffPost. “They’re already making predictions on how long it will take them to grow their hair out to donate again.”
This story originally appeared on TheDelite. Checkout TheDelite for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
