For most of us, having a full head of hair might not be something we think about very often.

But for some young people, suffering from alopecia areata and other conditions, not having hair can be a traumatic and demoralizing experience during what is already a very difficult time.

Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada who have lost their hair due to medical treatment or illness. Their goal is to create high quality hair prosthetics for these young people. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a alopecia, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses they provide help to restore self-esteem and confidence, enabling sufferers to face the world and their peers.

Once again demonstrating their big hearts, one local Girl Scout troop is rallying to the Locks of Love cause.

Troop 52923, under the leadership of Sammamish’s Athena Angelis, is holding a “hair-raising” event, to encourage those blessed with long locks to donate a few inches to Locks of Love.

“During financially difficult times, we are being creative in how we can help those less fortunate than ourselves,” said Angelis. “Since Girl Scouts promotes confidence and courage, it pained us to learn about the struggles girls like us had in “fitting in,” just because they had a medical condition.”

Angelis said her troops had the idea for a hair-cutting event when they full realized how valuable their own hair could be in building the self-esteem of these young men and women. “We try to help others by taking little steps, or rather little snips!”

In support of her troop, Angelis will be cutting off 13 inches of her own hair.

Are you inspired to join Angelis and her Girl Scouts in donating to Locks of Love? If you have 10 inches of hair you are willing to cut and donate, here’s what you do:

• Put hair in a ponytail or braid before it is cut

• Hair must be clean and completely dry

• Place the ponytail or braid inside of a plastic bag

• Go to www.locksoflove.org/donate and fill out the donation form.

Bring your cut hair with you to the Girl Scouts Locks of Love celebration, at 6:30 p.m., Feb. 25 at Discovery Elementary School, 2300, 228th Ave SE, in Sammamish.

“We will celebrate those that made the cut and will provide a special Girl Scout patch for your participation and a Locks of Love Certificate,” Angelis said.

For those of you that don’t have the hair to donate, but want to help Locks of Love, you can recruit friends and family to make this contribution. Bring them, or just their hair, to the meeting on Feb. 25, to join in the celebration. If you recruited someone, you will earn the Locks of Love patch too.

For more information on Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org. or get in touch with Angelis at 425-291-3233, or athena.angelis@gmail.com.