Kathy Jones, Groton holds up her ponytails after getting her hair cut.
story & photo
by Crystal Harpstreit
Kiesha Murphy, the owner of Spoiled Salon in New London and her staff hosted a Wigs for Kids event. The organization collects hair and makes it into wigs for sick children, many of whom are cancer patients going through chemotherapy or have alopecia, a condition which causes hair to fall out.
Kiesha and her staff incorporated the event into Sailfest where they used their tent as an outdoor salon. They hoped to collect several, 13 inch long ponytails to donate to the organization ,”If I can collect ten ponytails, I’ll be happy,” said Kiesha.
She also stated that, “The hair needs to be in good condition and not bleached, if you want to donate.” Six, 12 inch long ponytails are needed in order to make one wig for a child who has lost their hair.
“This was going to be Locks of Love, but a client didn’t want to donate because they charge for the hairpieces.”
Kiesha learned about Wigs for Kids through a friend who was looking for a salon that would donate her hair. It turned out that Wigs for Kids was her friend’s favorite hair donation charity because every single hairpiece they make is given to a child and their family free of charge.
During the first day of the event, on Saturday, July 10, the salon was able to collect two ponytails.
The main event of the day was Wigs for Kids, but people interested in donating to a good cause were not turned away if they didn’t have extremely long hair. The staff gave trims and that hair was donated to Matter of Trust which is an organization that uses human hair, fleece, feathers and fur clippings to clean up oil spills.
Kiesha says, “I’ve been doing hair for almost 25 years.” She worked in different salons until she was given the chance to manage and decided that she wanted to open her own salon. She says, “I think it’s the happiest that I’ve been because I get to do stuff like this,” of holding events to help others
