Fanwood Singer’s Donation Proves Love is ‘In Style’
As a member of the Escape quartet, Susan Schuman of Fanwood was required to pull her shoulder-length hair off her neck for Sweet Adelines International (SAI) competions. She twisted it high on her crown and wrapped it in a hairpiece for a polished look. But on February 4, she shed her long locks, and thus her need for the hairpiece, so that a child without any hair can crown his or her head with a much-needed wig.
While caroling with Escape quartet in Westfield this past holiday season, Mrs. Schuman saw a “Locks of Love” flyer posted at Panera Bread by a local Girl Scout. She had already been thinking about cutting her hair and wondered if she could wait until the February event date.
“I thought this would be good for Girls Scouts, for me, for others, and then I thought, here is my son, Jonathan, working on his mitzvah project for his upcoming bar mitzvah, and I figured I could do this as a mitzvah, in his honor,” said Mrs. Schuman.
Locks of Love is a public, non-profit organization that provides high-quality hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. Most children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure.
“I was crying as I read the brochure. I knew I had to donate the full 10 inches –the length needed to make the actual hair prosthetics. You can donate a shorter amount, six inches or more, but they sell those donations to raise money to make the hair prosthetics,” explained Mrs. Schuman.
The hair prosthetics provided are custom-made from donated ponytails and retail for between $3,500 and $6,000. They are different from synthetic hairpieces because they form a vacuum seal and do not require the use of tape or glue. Only the wearer of the prosthetic ma remove it, by breaking the vacuum seal at the temples, dismissing any insecurities about classmates pulling off a hairpiece or losing it during sports. Each prosthetic requires between six and 10 ponytails and each strand of hair is hand-injected into the silicone base.
“My hair is shorter than it has ever been, but it will grow back. The children I am helping, they don’t have that luxury. I only hope I can fix my hair as nicely as the stylist [whose services were donated by Guillotine in Westfield]. I’ve been a wash-and-go girl for so long! Heck, I only used hairspray during contest season!” laughed Mrs. Schuman, who will compete again with Escape quartet on Friday, April 4 in Philadelphia.
Escape is the current Champion Quartet of the Greater New York Region of SAI. Mrs. Schuman also competes with Hickory Tree Chorus, the current regional chorus champion, this year –without a hairpiece.
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