{module Lawyers get the chop at Locks for the Law}{nomultithumb}Yesterday morning, six members of Ottawa’s legal community cut their hair at the third annual Locks for the Law event to make wigs for cancer patients.
Three years ago, Sybil Johnson-Abbott was returning to her job after being away on maternity leave and decided she needed a haircut. She realized it was long enough to donate it to charity, and wondered if some of her co-workers at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s Ottawa office would join her.
She was able to find five other women who were both willing to cut their hair and met the standards for hair donations: over 23 centimetres of hair they were willing to cut that had not been bleached or permanently dyed and contained less than five-per-cent grey. It takes six donations to make a wig, though some women with thick hair can make several donations.
Thus was born Locks for the Law, and it became an annual event hosted by BLG. Partnered with Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths charity, the hair donations will go to the Canadian Cancer Society and help to provide wigs for people who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment free of charge, says Johnson-Abbott.
“We definitely have enough for one wig, probably two, this year,” said Johnson-Abbott, looking at the row of brown, blonde, and black severed ponytails.
“It’s a renewable resource and can really make a difference in people’s lives,” she said. “It gives them a chance to look in the mirror and see themselves, and the strength to battle on. We’re really happy to be part of that.”
Photos: Catherine Lewis
