Take a moment to appreciate your hair. You can wash it, blow it dry and style it.

Most people take for granted having hair that doesn't get matted and fuzzy after a few years, like synthetic hair does. Since synthetic hair lacks natural oil and weight, many more knots and tangles form in it.

It's easy to buy a wig with fake hair, but getting a wig with real hair is much more difficult and can be very expensive. They start at $3,000 -- too much for many boys and girls faced with permanent hair loss.

But Locks of Love can help.

The nonprofit group provides free hairpieces made from human hair to kids with long-term or permanent hair loss, said executive director Jennifer Cox.

The group, based in Lake Worth, Fla., makes the hairpieces from donated hair.

"These hairpieces help them blend in with their peers and help them feel more relaxed and comfortable at school, so that they are more confident," Cox said. "Having these hairpieces lets them participate in activities again."

Locks of Love accepts hair from anybody, but requires it be a ponytail or braid at least 10 inches long. It also must be clean and dry. It can be colored or permed, but not chemically damaged.

Locks of Love has the length requirement because two inches of hair is usually consumed in the wig-making process, and most girls receiving wigs want long hair. It takes 10 to 15 ponytails to make one wig.

"If it's less than 10 inches, we sell it, and that helps pay our electricity bill," said Cox. "We get about 2,000 ponytails every week."

Y-Press recently interviewed four girls who donated hair to Locks of Love: Kimberly Moore, 16, Alicia Strong, 15, Christina Wadelton, 10, all of Indianapolis, and Carly Decker, 18, of Columbus, Ind. Each donated at least 13 inches of hair.

Kimberly got the idea from a friend who donated, and Christina followed her sister's example.

Alicia read about Locks of Love in a magazine. "I saw an article about a girl who cut off her hair, and then in another part of the article there was a woman who had had cancer, and she was in remission. And then she grew back her hair and donated it, and I thought it was cool," she said.

Carly was participating in the Relay for Life fund-raiser in Columbus two years ago when she saw a Locks of Love booth, where women were cutting hair.

"The next year, I had my hair cut," she said.

Carly and Kimberly were a little nervous about getting their hair cut short.

"I hadn't had short hair in a long time," Kimberly explained.

"I just about backed out at the last minute because I was really nervous about how I would look with short hair, 'cause I hadn't had short hair for like 10 years," Carly said. "But seeing all my friends do it, you know, we all did it at the same time, and it was really comforting to have those people there to support me."

The process of donating is easy. Locks of Love posts a form and guidelines on its Web site. Some salons cut the hair at no cost if they know it's for Locks of Love.

Alicia described her experience: "When we got to the haircutting place, we gave them the form, and then our hairdresser put (my hair) into four ponytails and cut them off. She couldn't cut them off with haircutting scissors because my hair was too thick, so she had to get paper scissors. It was really funny," said Alicia. "Then we kept them in the ponytails and put them in a bag. Then we put the bag in an envelope and put it in the mailbox."

Most donated hair is from children wanting to help other children, Cox said. The girls agreed Locks of Love is a worthy cause.

"It would be embarrassing for kids to have to be bald when they're already dealing with a medical disease," Kimberly said.

Christina said donors benefit, too. "It makes them feel better that they know that . . . somebody who was bald is wearing their hair."

After Locks of Love receives the hair, it gives it to TaylorMade, which makes the custom hairpieces.

These are not simple wigs, but hair prosthetics in which the hair is implanted, one strand at a time, into a base that is re-created from a mold of the user's head. That way the hairpiece fits precisely and holds tightly to the head.

Applications are available online or from the Locks of Love office.

"They have to send in a doctor's diagnosis, stating the cause of their hair loss and the prognosis for regrowth. They have to submit current financial statements, . . . two letters of recommendation, and photos of the child without a hairpiece," said Cox.

Most recipients have a medical condition called alopecia areata, an unpredictable autoimmune skin disease that causes hair loss on the scalp and elsewhere.

Locks of Love keeps recipients' names confidential, although some agree to be photographed with and without their hairpieces.

Locks of Love can use volunteers of all kinds.

"Volunteers can help in many different ways. People who donate their hair are volunteers. People who donate their time by . . . helping us open the mail and send thank-yous are volunteers, and people who volunteer to do fund-raisers or cut-a-thons for us . . . are also volunteers," said Cox.

REPORTERS: Meera Patel, 11, Tara Wadelton, 12, Katie McDowell, 10, Miranda Lindley, 11, Tiera Haley, 12.

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How to help

Since Locks of Love began in 1997, it has provided hairpieces to more than 850 financially disadvantaged children. For more information on donating hair or applying for a hairpiece, visit its Web site at http://www.locksoflove.org.