VIDEO: Minnetonka Mom Chops it off for Charity

Michele McLaughlin has been growing her hair out for several years, struggling through split ends and broken strands. When it came time to lop off nearly one foot of the hair she so painstakingly nurtured, the Minnetonka resident didn't shed tears.

"I don't do very well with long hair," she said. "But I just love the idea of helping kids, and what an easy way to do it."

McLaughlin was one of two donors who recently spent a few hours at Edina's , cutting their hair to donate it to Locks of Love, a public nonprofit organization providing hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

McLaughlin was joined by Celia, an 11-year-old Eden Prairie resident, who grew her hair out "for the heck of it" after seeing her piano teacher's daughter do the same thing, with the sole purpose of donating it. For Celia, the most difficult part of the process was dealing with her increasingly lengthy locks.

"You can't dry it in time for school, so you have to brush it while it's still wet," she said. "It's impossible."

McLaughlin said growing out her hair was inspired largely by the people she has grown close to through the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota. McLaughlin's 5-year-old daughter has Down syndrome, a condition she said frequently overlaps with leukemia, and McLaughlin got to know Celia's mother through a Down syndrome parent group.

"It's just a nice way to honor my daughter and friends who we've met through that group and friends who are battling cancer right now," McLaughlin said. "It's kind of funny because you start to think of (the hair) as belonging to someone else already, so I was trying really hard to take care of it."

McLaughlin doesn't regret a moment of the process, or the loss of her luxurious locks.

"It's just hair," she said.