Gabrielle Santangelo was excited when she arrived at Pink Salon in Clarkston last week.
The 6-year-old, who lives in Independence Township with her parents and two siblings, was about to do something really nice.
‘She’s very giving, always thinking about what she can do for others,? said Debbie Santangelo, Gabrielle’s mom. ‘Her teachers describe her as a little mother to her classmates.?
Last year, one of Gabrielle’s teachers at Detroit County Day in Bloomfield Hills, as well as one of her friends, donated hair to Locks of Love.
Gabrielle decided she wanted to help, too.
So she climbed into the chair at Pink and Stylist Tiffiny Graff carefully put Gabrielle’s long hair into a ponytail’then snipped it right off.
With a 10-inch donation of long, silky hair ready to send to Locks of Love, Gabrielle still had enough left, as she’d requested, for ‘piggy tails.?
Locks of Love, a public non-profit organization, provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the U.S. and Canada who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.
The prostheses, says the organization, help restore a child’s self-esteem and confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.
And Gabrielle has some idea what it’s like for a loved one suffering with hair loss’her grandma died from cancer in November 2006.
‘She knows it’s going to children,? said Debbie. ‘But this morning she said ‘Mom, Grandma Mary would like this if she knew.?
For more information check out www.locksoflove.org