Rachel White couldn't be happier with her six year old daughter Emma. Emma decided to have 12 inches of her beautiful blonde hair cut off in order to donate it to the Locks of Love organization. Little Emma, a first grader at Johnson Elementary in Forney, wanted to honor her great grandmother Doris Vaughn, who lost her battle with cancer on January 7, 2013.
Rachel White couldn't be happier with her six year old daughter Emma. Emma decided to have 12 inches of her beautiful blonde hair cut off in order to donate it to the Locks of Love organization. Little Emma, a first grader at Johnson Elementary in Forney, wanted to honor her great grandmother Doris Vaughn, who lost her battle with cancer on January 7, 2013.
Emma White had decided at age four that she wanted to let her hair grow long, according to her father, Fort Worth police officer Billy White. Mr. White said, “It was quite a shock when she said she wanted to cut it.” Emma's teenage sister Abigail had a hard time with her sister getting her hair cut off, but she was happy that Emma wanted to help others.
Billy and Rachel White have been a couple since the eighth grade and have lived in Forney since 1996. They raised both Emma and their daughter Abigail to be generous spirits. In fact, Rachel White, who owns Forney Uniform Supply located inside the Forney Sports Complex, created “Forney Strong” t-shirts after the April 3 tornado wreaked havoc on the town. She sold the shirts to raise money for tornado victims and participated in the Forney Tornado Relief Benefit Concert.
When Emma was asked why she wanted to donate her hair to Locks of Love, she said, “Because it could help people have hair.” She explained that she was happy she got to see her Grandma Doris last Saturday before she passed away and she knows she would be proud of her for what she did. She whispered, “It would make grandma happy and it will help other people with cancer.” Rachel added, “We are all proud of her, including her other grandparents and family members.”
Emma received her haircut at the Touch Up Hair Salon in Forney on January 8. She chose to get her hair cut like her stylist at the salon, Kara. “It's short in the back and long in the front,” explained Emma. She said that her friends at school think it's a cute style and they have talked about growing their hair out to donate as well. Emma had 12 inches of hair cut off because Locks of Love need at least 10 inches of hair. On January 9 Emma and Rachel mailed the hair to the non-profit organization.
Emma thinks that it is a good idea if other kids decide to grow their hair out for Locks of Love because, “More sick kids can have hair.” In fact, she plans to grow her hair out once again and when the time is right, she'll have it cut to donate. With a sweet smile and a determined look in her eyes she had one last message for kids and adults alike, “Please donate your hair.”
**The Locks of Love organization is a non-profit organization “that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.” To learn more about Locks of Love and how you can help, click here.**
