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Bushkill Elementary First Grader Donates Hair to Locks of Love

It took Rebecca Burke, 6, three years to grow her hair long enough to donate to Locks of Love.

Rebecca Burke, 6, is just beginning her academic career at , but she's already a Whiz Kid.

Rebecca recently donated about 12 inches of her brunette locks to... well, Locks of Love. The non-profit organization "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 www.locksoflove.org.

It took Rebecca three years to grow her hair long enough to donate, according to her mother, Tracy. But it took only minutes for about 12 inches of hair to be snipped off by a beautician at in the Lower Nazareth Commons Plaza.

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And Rebecca was perfectly OK with that.

“I wanted to have my hair short again,” Rebecca said.

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So how did the first grader become involved with Locks of Love, you wonder?

Well, her parents decided that keeping their two daughters' hair short was easier to maintain.

“I like long hair on the girls, but it’s hard to keep up,” Tracy explained.

But before the scissors came out, Tracy asked her girls if they would like to grow their hair long enough to donate to Locks of Love.

Rebecca was all for it.

“It was fun,” she said.

Rebecca said she used to wear her hair in a ponytail to soccer, cheerleading, and to her Daisies meetings. Her classmates were surprised when she came to school one day with short hair, Rebecca said, but they approved of her new bob hairstyle.

Tracy said she and her daughter looked at the Locks of Love website together, and Rebecca understands that the children have a sickness that makes them lose their hair.

“I don’t go into too much detail with her, because she’s only six,” Tracy said. “But she gets the concept.”

“It goes to cancer people,” Rebecca explained.

Like so many people who have had a loved one stricken with cancer, the Burke family has had family members who have battled the disease. Tracey's mother is in remission after two bouts with cancer, but an aunt lost her courageous battle, Tracy said.

According to Tracy, salons that participate in the Locks of Love program will send the donated hair to the organization for you. But even if the salon of your choosing isn’t a participant, the do-it-yourself process isn't hard -- the hair donation process is explained in great detail on the Locks of Love website.

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