Hair Donations
Paying it Forward
Around 1995, the Canadian Cancer Society asked me if there was something that could be done with the hair donations that they were receiving. An organization called “Locks of Love” was making wigs for children with Alopecia and many Canadians wanted to help Canadian kids.
Locks of Love is a great organization by the way. I know the driving force behind it, Greg Taylor, who I count as a personal friend as well as a mentor. His organization has helped kids all over the United States and does beautiful work.
But the wigs are vacuum caps designed for kids with complete hair loss. They are not practical for kids that have partial hair loss, or temporary hair loss. What we do is take hair donations and use the hair to make wigs and partials for children with any type of medical hair loss.
The donated hair is sorted and blended and then made into small-cap wigs for children under 12. These are made available free of charge to any Canadian child that needs them. Most of the children come to us through referrals from hospitals. We have some wigs that are here but are also able to make special custom orders for children that need them and are able to wait for a couple of months for them to be made.
How to Donate Hair to Help Children with Hair Loss
All donations should be 12 inches (30 cm) or longer, secured in a ponytail at both ends.
We do NOT cut hair here. You can go to any stylist or hairdresser to get your hair cut.
Simply have them follow the guidelines below
- Hair must be clean and dry and must be in a braid or ponytail before it is cut.
- 12 inches measured tip to tip is the minimum length needed, layered hair is acceptable if the longest layer is 12 inches
- When donating hair by shaving hair off be sure to divide the sections of hair into braids or ponytails before it is cut off
- We DO NOT accept hair that has been dyed or coloured – we accept only virgin hair
- We accept grey hair, 12 inches and longer and even hair that had been cut years ago and stored in either a braid or ponytail
- Hair swept off the floor is not usable
- We cannot accept hair that had a perm, been bleached or dreadlocks
- Place hair in a clear plastic bag, and then place in an envelope for mailing
We appreciate the generosity of our donors! In order to provide wigs to kids for free, we try to keep costs to a minimum. Our program is run by volunteers and while they do their best to acknowledge contributions, we sometimes fall behind. Please call us if you did not receive one.
If you would simply like to know that your donation has been received, please include an email address in the plastic bag with your donation. Letters are not sent out automatically, so please include a note with your full name and address if you would like one.
Donations can be dropped off in person (Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 5pm or Saturdays 9am to 4pm). Please see address and directions below.
Upon dropping off donations we ask that no photos be taken in our salon to protect our clients privacy.
We do not provide thank you letters on the spot nor do we have an official thank you ceremony upon dropping off hair. Thank you for understanding this and for your donation.
Hair Donation Form
If you would like to donate hair, please download and fill out the form below. You can then send it in along with your donation:
Hair can be mailed to us directly at:
Hair Donations
c/o Continental Hair
92 ½ Avenue Road
Toronto, Ontario
M5R 2H2
We are three blocks north of Bloor on the west side of Avenue Road.
Hair Donation Certificate
If you or your child donated hair and you would like a Certificate of Donation, please feel free to download and print the certificate below.
