Getting a haircut can be intimidating for a child – especially if their hair had never been cut before. Zoe Buuck, 4th grade student at Pearl River Central, took the leap to cut her hair for the first time in June so she could donate 17 inches of it to the Wigs to Kids charity.

Buuck’s mother, Lisa Calabresi said besides the occasional trimming, Buuck never had her hair cut. As a result, it had gotten so long it grew past her waist. She said her daughter’s hair was getting harder and harder to maintain, but Buuck kept saying she didn’t want to cut it off. However, one day Buuck announced to her mother out of the blue that she had finally decided she wanted to cut her hair.

“I had just really had enough of it. It was so hard to take care of,” Buuck said.

However, she didn’t just want to get a normal haircut – she wanted to donate her hair to a child with cancer. After she decided she wanted to donate her hair, Buuck got together with her siblings and measured the amount of hair she wanted to donate. Calabresi said the Wigs to Kids charity requires at least 12 inches, but Buuck decided to take it a step further and donate 17.

“I think everyone should be able to have hair if they want to have hair. Especially kids and for girls to be able to play with each other’s hair.”

Calabresi said they chose the Wigs to Kids organization because they make and give wigs away at no cost to families in need.

Calabresi said there was a long process behind donating Buuck’s hair. First, they had to thoroughly wash Buuck’s hair the night before. However, they had to do so without products like conditioner so the hair wouldn’t retain moisture and mold during shipping. When they got to the hair salon, the stylist sectioned off Buuck’s hair into three, 17-inch ponytails. After her hair was cut, they packaged it and shipped it first-class to the organization.

Calabresi said the organization will send a small package and thank you letter once the hair is received, but they are unable to disclose who received Buuck’s hair. Even so, Buuck said she hopes to one day receive a picture of the child who got her hair.

“I used to have this friend and we would say we wanted to cure cancer. Now I want to be a chef instead, but I still wanted to donate my hair. I hope that [other kids] will donate their hair and help other kids,” Buuck said.

Buuck said she has talked to several of her friends at school about donating her hair and hopes that one of them will decide to do the same thing one day. She said she wants to grow out her hair again so she can donate more in the future.