Locks of Love Finds Unusual Donor

Community service is a way for students to learn more about themselves, to grow. One Wilkes student is growing, but not in the way most might think.

Kyle Luttman, a sophomore secondary education and biology major is letting his hair grow to support Locks of Love.

According to the organization's website, "Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children across the U.S. under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss. The prostheses they provide help to restore children's self-esteem and confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers."

Over the past year, many people have noticed a change in the length of Luttman's hair. Luttman is sometimes even picked on and called names like "Ashton Kutcher," because the teen idol actor made famous by the popular That 70s Show also wears his hair in a long style. Some of Luttman's acquaintances even think that he is growing his hair as a fad to fit in with the "skater" crowd.

However, Luttman is not growing his hair to look like Kutcher or to fit in with some secret skater friends. He is really growing his hair because he wanted to find a way to help some kids in the midst of his busy college schedule.

During Luttman's freshman year at Wilkes University, he and his friend Brandon Cunningham, a sophomore pharmacy major, decided on a way to help some children. There were so many ways that they could reach out and help needy children by donating money, clothing, or even their time.

"It's hard [to do community service], being a college student with the busy schedule we have, and by not having a lot of money to just give to a charity," said Luttman.

The two decided they wanted to give their service effort a more personal touch. They wanted to help those children diagnosed with cancer, who would lose their hair after treatments. Cunningham said, "I love the kids, and I think I'm going to grow my hair out for them."

Luttman thought this was a good idea and decided to join the crusade to help the kids. They chose to donate their hair to Locks of Love organization.

Gail Minichiello, Coordinator of Community Service at Wilkes University, feels that donating hair is a great way to serve the community.

"You are just going to get rid of it anyway, so why not donate it to a good cause?" said Minichiello.

Luttman started growing his hair in December of 2002. When he began, he realized that growing his hair long enough would take some time to accomplish, since it was very short. At one point, he even had to start the process over.

"It was December 18...my friend's birthday so I remember. I had to cut my hair because I realized how chemically damaged it was, I had to start all over," said Luttman.

Over the next couple of months Luttman designed a web page to get the word out to others about what he was doing. Soon, some people decided to donate money and even help out the cause by growing their hair long, too.

"I think about 10 people donated money. Pam and Dan, my friends from back home, are also helping out. It's nice to get a variety of people to do it; it's kind of like a team thing," stated Luttman.

During the process, Luttman has, on occasion, measured his hair to see how long it is. He currently believes that his hair is about six inches long.

Minichiello said, "I haven't really heard of many men doing it. I encourage more men to do it."

Although Luttman is undeterred in his efforts, he is beginning to find his locks not so loving. Luttman is becoming annoyed by the length of his hair and said, "The only reason keeping me from cutting it is because we are doing it for a good cause."

A requirement from Locks of Love is that the hair that is donated must be ten inches long. This doesn't sound too long, but it needs to be ten inches long by being pulled back into a pony tail.

Minichiello added, "For some people, it can be a donation that they put a lot of thought into. Maybe they have never imagined themselves with shorter hair, which is a big step. But they believe in it for various reasons. Maybe they have been touched by someone that has cancer or to try to help someone beyond that."

To find out more information or to join the crusades to help the kids, check out Luttman's web page at http://www.geocities.com/runawaysoul2/forthekids.html