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A Heart of Service

Throughout one’s adolescence, there are many milestones and adventures one embarks on that truly stand out and define a childhood. Being young and enjoying those precious moments with friends and family is something that makes one’s life so sweet and special.

Local first-grader Jolee Rodgers is no different in her experiences. The soon-to-be seven year old enjoys being with her family and loves spending time with her friends. What stands out about Jolee, however, is the recent decision she made to cut and donate her gorgeous, long hair to be made into a wig for children with cancer without any influence. 

For a young girl, hair is so important and special. Being able to style one’s hair with beautiful braids and pigtails is something that one adores, especially when  mothers spend invaluable time many mornings doing their daughter’s hair for school or at night before bed. The significance of hair to a little girl is exactly why Jolee’s decision stands out as so remarkable. 

The reason for which Jolee decided to donate her hair came about a few months ago when Jolee was watching television with her mother. While watching television, Jolee saw a commercial for St. Jude Children’s Hospital that was spreading awareness about children with cancer. Jolee noticed that a lot of the children in the commercial had lost their hair due to treatments they were undergoing at the hospital.

“I wasn’t planning on cutting my hair before I saw the commercial, but seeing all the kids who weren’t able to have longer hair made me realize how lucky I was,” said Jolee. “Even though I loved my long hair and being able to grow it out, I didn’t want the other kids to go without having the pretty hair that I did.” 

Even though there was a tinge of sadness about losing the hair she’d grown out for so long, Jolee only felt happy on the day of the big haircut because she knew that she was helping other kids feel as special as she did with long hair. Her mother Brandi accompanied her to the hair salon where nine inches were taken off and then sent away to be donated. 

“It was bittersweet because Jolee was a baby who didn’t get a single thread of hair until she was two years old and had grown her hair out ever since then,” said Brandi. “But seeing her heart that was doing an act of selflessness for someone that she doesn’t even know made me so proud to see her demonstrate that kind of compassion so young.”

The organization for which Jolee decided to send and donate her hair to is called Children with Hair Loss. They decided on this company because they donate the wigs they make for free so that the recipients don’t have to pay any money for them. Knowing that children who’ve lost their hair due to cancer are already going through enough, Jolee and her mother wanted the wig to be completely free to whoever gets to wear it. 

As Jolee grows her hair back, she plans to keep donating her hair to children in need after it’s long enough. With the end of the holiday season, Jolee’s generosity truly exemplifies what it means to give during the season of giving. 

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