BAY MINETTE, Ala. — A new club at Baldwin County High School is already making a presence in Bay Minette as the Locks of Love Club sponsors its first Cut-A-Thon.

The event will be held Friday, March 20, from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the teacher parking lot at the high school.

In the event of bad weather, the event will be moved to the gym lobby.

"The Locks of Love Club is hosting a school and community wide Cut-A-Thon to raise hair and monetary donations for the Locks of Love organization," said Jessica Welch, teacher and sponsor of the club.

Welch formed the club this year, the first of its kind in Baldwin County.

"I started our Locks of Love Club this year during the fall semester. All the teachers were encouraged to sponsor a club and I chose this because I really like the Locks of Love organization," she said. "The purpose of the club is to raise hair and money for the Locks of Love organization."

Locks of Love is a public, non-profit organization that provides vacuum-fitted hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

During the cut-a-thon, club members will be selling hand-made "hair-friendly" hair wraps, ranging in price from $5 to $20. Proceeds will go to Locks of Love.

"Victoria Defee, who teaches cosmetology at (North Baldwin Center for Technology) is helping recruit some local stylists to do the cuts," Welch said.

She said the cut-a-thon is not only the club's first event of this kind, but is the school's first as well.

"There have been other "hair cuttings" in the county for Locks of Love, but this is the first one at our school," she said. "I do know there are lots of events like ours going on in the country. Many are successful."

When thinking about donating hair, residents should keep the following guidelines in mind:

• Hair must be at least 10 inches, clean and dry.

• It must be bundled in a ponytail or braid.

• Bleached hair cannot be used.

• Hair that has been dyed or permed can be used.

"Our goal is 20 feet of hair," Welch said.

According to a press release issued by the organization, "most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure.

"Others have suffered severe burns or injuries or endured radiation treatment to the brain stem or other dermatological conditions that result in permanent hair loss."

The organization began in 1998 and provides the hairpieces, made from genuine human hair, to children 6-18, every 18 months for a total of up to eight hairpieces. The hairpieces require between 6-10 ponytails and take approximately four to six months to make.

Monetary donations are tax deductible. Before donating, residents are encouraged to see donation guidelines at locksoflove.org. For more information about the cut-a-thon, email Welch at jlwelch@bcbe.org.