July 7, 2005

Scissorly love

Three Almaden sisters graciously snip hair for Locks of Love

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

When their grandfather died of cancer in April of 2000, three Almaden sisters began reflecting on the devastation left by the disease and ways to ease the suffering of its survivors.

The sisters traded several years’ worth of hair growth for a chance to help other kids.

Then, in the summer of 2003, Gina Giovannetti, 14, and her two younger siblings, Teresa, 11, and Donna, 7, learned of a friend, Claire Pfeiffer, who had donated her hair to the nonprofit Locks of Love organization. The group provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children who have medical conditions, such as cancer, that cause long-term medical hair loss by using donated hair to create high-quality hair prosthetics that restore self esteem and confidence.

So after growing their hair for several years, with Donna not having cut her mane since she was a toddler, all three walked into Almaden’s Cafe Hair salon the afternoon of June 21 to get their beautiful brown locks snipped all the way up to their shoulders.

“They thought that it might be neat to do this all at once,” said their mother, Annmarie Giovannetti.

Their hair had to be at least, 10 inches long, and Cafe Hair, being one of the participating hair salons, made sure the hair was shipped to Florida, where Locks of Love’s headquarters are located.

“I just brought them into the salon and they assigned us to a hair stylist, set the pony tails and cut the hair,” Annmarie said. “They were very happy even though going from long to short hair was kind of a shock. They think that it’s a great idea to help children who lose their hair, to have the organization using kids’ hair for kids’ wigs is great.”

All three girls know about giving back to the community and serving those who are less fortunate.

Gina, who’s going to be a sophomore at Leland High School in the fall, is a senior Girl Scout in Troop No. 59. She received her Girl Scout silver award in June for making 50 care packages to entertain children in hospitals.

“I wanted to do Locks of Love after reading about it in a magazine,” Gina said. “It seemed like it would be better to have it cut off for a good cause, instead of having it cut off and thrown away.”

Teresa, who’s entering the seventh grade at Bret Harte, is a cadet in Girl Scout Troop No. 1243. She just received her bronze award for helping make lunch to feed families and children at the Ronald McDonald House in Palo Alto.
“I thought it would be nice to help other kids,” Teresa said.

Donna, going into third grade at Graystone Elementary, is a Brownie in Troop No. 1365. When she was a Daisy in the Girl Scout organization, she participated in Christmas caroling at the Le Mirador retirement home.

Annmarie, who’s lived in Almaden her whole life, is a Girl Scout leader and a full-time homemaker.

“If there’s a way to make children feel better about themselves and not be so self-conscious, then we need to help,” Annmarie said. “If my girls can encourage anyone else to go and do the same thing, then that would be wonderful.”

For more information on the Locks of Love organization visit www.locksoflove.org.