Teen keeps commitment to Locks of Love effort
BY PATRICIA YOCZIS
Correspondent

Sarah Schwartzberg, 16, of Manalapan, shows the hair she recently donated to Locks of Love.

MANALAPAN - Sarah Schwartz-berg was 9 years old and a fourth-grade pupil at the Lafayette Mills School when she first cut her long red hair and donated it to Locks of Love.

Since then she has made three more donations of her tresses for a total of 44.5 inches.

"I wasn't sad or upset to cut my hair," said Sarah, now 16 years old and a sophomore at Manalapan High School. "It was exciting and I looked forward to helping the children who will use my hair."

Locks of Love, a Florida-based charity, accepts donations of human hair, both male and female, and turns it into wigs for disadvantaged children who suffer illnesses that cause alopecia (loss of hair), including radiation treatment and burns. The minimum length for a donation of hair is 10 inches.

Sarah said she first heard about Locks of Love from a TV talk show. An investigation of the program found a beauty salon, Salon Cemone, of Manal-apan, that works with Locks of Love.

"My hair was shaped in a ponytail and cut," she said. "Then my hairdresser, Sue Bertola-Wolfe, gave me a free new short hairstyle," she said.

When enough donations are collected, the hair is mailed by the beauty salon to Florida. About six ponytails are required for a wig.

Sarah's mother, Marlene, cut her daughter's first ponytail. Others who clipped her locks included Sarah's sister, Lauren, 22, and then Sarah herself for the last cut in March. She said it takes about two years for her hair to grow the proper length for a donation.

"I intend to keep cutting my hair and making donations," said Sarah. "It's an exciting and a great thing to do and to make others happy."

Marlene Schwartzberg said she totally supports Sarah's participation in Locks of Love.

"The first cut of her beautiful long red hair was more traumatic for me than for Sarah," she said. "But I think it's wonderful that she is willing to give away her hair, hair that defines any girl, to someone who has need of it."

Schwartzberg said both of her daughters have been community-minded. She said Sarah was involved with numerous projects, including a project to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

"Locks of Love isn't for everyone," Schwartzberg said. "Sarah may have been touched by the sight of a child with alopecia wearing a bandanna. I don't know how it became a special project."

Stu Schwartzberg, Sarah's father, praised his daughter's commitment to Locks of Love.

"I think it is wonderful and kind to give away her tresses for someone else," he said. "I'm very proud of her and all my children and their generosity to others."

While the donors and recipients of Locks of Love have no formal or informal way to meet, the Internet Web site www.locksoflove.com does have photos and more information.