Local stylist doing her part
A desire to get involved and do her part to help children who have lost their hair through cancer and other illnesses motivates this Montrose hair stylist to local and worldwide work for Locks of Love.
Patti Thomas Harmon, who co-owns Cavalier’s Hair Studio at 3620 N. Verdugo Road, is involved in a few separate ways with the national non-profit organization, which provides hairpieces to youths suffering from long-term medical hair loss.
In addition to soliciting hair donations from long-haired clients who come in for a hair cut, Harmon also has an Internet site, www.HairNeedHelp.com, where other stylists can click on specific ads to generate funds for Locks of Love, and she has created a Facebook social networking group, Locks of Love via Hair Need Help, to also raise money for the cause.
Harmon has been a local hairstylist for nearly three decades. A native Crescenta Valley resident, she grew up in La Crescenta and began working 27 years ago in the same salon she now co-owns. She later moved to La Cañada, where she raised a family. She previously worked for a local children’s hair salon and has owned numerous salons in La Crescenta, La Cañada, Glendale and Montrose. She also was a Boy Scout leader for several years in La Cañada.
It was while she was volunteering with the Boy Scouts that she first came to know a child who suffered from medical hair loss. Although no one teased the youth, that child had a difficult time emotionally, and it impressed upon Harmon the importance of making sure youths with medical hair loss were supplied with wigs and plenty of emotional support through such a difficult time in their lives, she said.
Harmon said she has had a great response from her clients, and she hopes to continue being a facilitator, guiding hair donors to a worthwhile use of their discarded locks.
She recently began her own campaign to collect hair donations, which began in March and will run through July 4.
Hair donated to Locks of Love must meet minimum requirements, including a 10-inch length requirement. For additional information, go to www.locksoflove.org.