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Trail girl has lots of locks & love Hair grows fast enough to allow donation to program twice in one year Brooke McLeod only winced a bit as the silver shears snipped through her ponytail. After all, the Trail 12-year-old had willingly lost a lot of hair before. Just a year ago, in fact, she donated a 14-inch honey-blonde braid to Locks of Love, a nonprofit group that makes hairpieces for ill children. On Sunday, Brooke was back to trim her tresses once again. "To grow your hair out and to give it away is really cool," said Lois Jorgensen, 41, the Ashland hairdresser who did the honors. "To do it twice in one year! That�s really fast growth." In the past two years, Jorgensen has offered about a dozen free haircuts to girls and young women willing to lop their locks for a good cause. Brooke is the first to donate twice, said Jorgensen, who figured the girl�s hair must grow at about twice the normal rate to have achieved such length. Martha Brooks, the preteen�s mom, first allowed her daughter to cut and send her hair as a way to ease the sting of the snip. "I told a friend, �I don�t want to cut her hair, but if it goes to the cancer thing, it�s OK,� " said Brooks, 41. For her part, Brooke had been lobbying hard for some time to trim her hair to a more manageable length for horseback riding. She sometimes thinks about the children who already received her first ponytail. "It feels kind of weird, but good," said Brooke. Based in Palm Springs, Fla., Locks of Love has provided custom-fitted hairpieces since 1997 to about 200 needy kids suffering from long-term medical hair loss. The hairpieces allow children, mostly girls, suffering from diseases such as cancer and alopecia areata, to look and feel more normal, the agency�s Web site contends. It takes 10 to 12 10-inch ponytails to supply a single prosthetic, which takes four months and $3,000 to make. Each hairpiece is a custom-made, vacuum-fitted wig made entirely from donated human hair. The fit is designed for children ages 8 to 17 who have lost all scalp hair; it does not require tape or glue. Younger children are fitted with less expensive synthetic wigs because their heads grow so fast. Nearly 80 percent of hair donors have been children, according to the agency�s Web site. "This is a charity where children have the opportunity to help other children," it reads. Jorgensen is one of a handful of Rogue Valley stylists who cut hair free for donors to Locks of Love. Sometimes she�ll have a rush when several girls want to shed their hair. That leaves braids of all sizes and hues lying about Loose Ends, her Ashland shop. But Jorgensen doesn�t mind. She slips the ponytails in plastic bags and sends them off with good thoughts for the kids they�ll serve. "When someone has the hair they want to share and we have the time to do it, it works out for everyone," Jorgensen said. Locks of Love offers these guidelines for folks thinking about donating hair: Hair must be human, not synthetic, and at least 10 inches long, tip to tip. Curly hair can be pulled to measure 10 inches. Hair must be clean and dry, bundled into a ponytail or braid, and placed in a plastic bag. Hair can be from men and women, young folks or old, all colors and all races. Hair may be colored or permed, but not chemically damaged. Hair that is short, gray or unsuitable for children will be separated from the ponytails and sold at fair market value to offset the cost of manufacturing. For more information, call Locks of Love at 1-888-896-1588 or check out their Web site at locksoflove.org Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA