Goody supports Locks of Love

Greetings,

The hair products company _Goody_ is apparently supporting Locks of Love. They provide a link to the organization on their home page.

http://www.goody.com

Given that I just "received" a solicitation to donate my hair on their behalf, and because there are legitimate concerns about their operations, I am personally very disappointed that the Goody company would even consider supporting Locks of Love, much less actually decide to do so.

It seems to me that Goody's support of Locks of Love is detrimental to their business:

1) How much will demand for their products be reduced if their customers' hair is reduced?

2) I personally refuse to purchase any more products from the Goody company until they cease and desist any affiliation with Locks of Love. What do you all think of the idea of a boycott of the Goody company? Further, we might want to write to them to express our dismay that they choose to support the Locks of Love organization.

Kind regards to all LHS'ers.

Agreed - perhaps sending Goody the BBB's documentation on Locks of Love would open their eyes, but I definitely think we should contact them and express our dismay that a company whose livelihood is HAIR CARE would support such a dubious organization.

Boycott GOODY until the link is removed, and support withdrawn from LOL.

Gren

Lock of Love

How can you say anything bad about locks of love? They help children with Cancer and alopecia! And Goody makes wonderful products! I think you are making a bad mistake here folks! A very bad mistake! Debbie P.S. I am NOT trying to cause trouble- just wondering what the deal is!

I've heard rumors both good and bad about LOL. Who can tell me about this and perhaps point everyone toward reliable info? Curiousity at work!

Hello all,

It does seem like bad business sense, doesn't it? I will have to check out the BBB site, as well. It sounds as if this is not the altruistic, venerable organization I once believed it to be.

I checked out ebay's human hair market. I was lurking on the other board last night, and today, after reading Uzma's remarks, I had to see for myself. That's disgusting, to say the least. Dismemberment is the right word. It's like selling an internal organ. With those tape measures lying next to those severed braids, they look like the crime evidence they are.

Count me in on the boycott.

Talk to you later,

Jean

The following is the BBB report for LOL.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Locks of Love

1640 South Congress Avenue, Suite 104
Palm Springs, FL 33461

November 2001
561-963-1677
888-896-1588
www.locksoflove.org Expiration Date: November 2003

Year, State Incorporated: 1997, Florida

Affiliates: None

Stated Purpose: "to provide the highest quality hair prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children with long-term or permanent medical hair loss."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evaluation Conclusions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Locks of Love (LOL) does not meet the following 3 CBBB Standards for Charitable Solicitations.

A1: Soliciting organizations shall provide on request an annual report. The annual report, an annually-updated written account, shall present the organization's purposes; descriptions of overall programs, activities, and accomplishments; eligibility to receive deductible contributions; information about the governing body and structure; and information about financial activities and financial position.

LOL does not produce an annual report in the form of a single document that includes all of the above-mentioned information. In response, LOL states that it does provide this information in supporting documents.


C5: Solicitations in conjunction with the sale of goods, services or admissions shall identify at the point of solicitation: a) the benefiting organization; b) a source from which written information is available; and c) the actual or anticipated portion of the sales or admission price to benefit the charitable organization or cause.

A LOL newsletter included a reference to the sale of a cookbook advertised to benefit LOL, that states, in part, "proceeds from the sale of [the cookbook]

the problem i have is the word ''donation'' donation is when you WANT TO DO IT! when someone tells you you should donate i feel it's wrong. this is off the subject alittle. my daughter will come home with feild trip slips that say they need a donation of x amount of dollars. to me that is not a donation. it's a fee. a donation is what you want or have to give. i feel it's wonderful if you decide to cut your hair you would like to donate it. when they make you feel gulity because you have long hair i feel is wrong. why does the hair have to be not colored? i always wondered that.

I don't know anything about this organization, but I have spent my entire career in non-profit fiscal management and do know a few things about the non-profit world:

1)The IRS does not easily grant 501(c)3 status, and does monitor organizations with tax-exempt status quite closely, particularly those with business income. There is no way LOL is selling the hairpieces to their "clients". They have to be donating a good portion of them. They are allowed to sell some hair if the proceeds go back into the organization to fund it's mission (including a reasonable overhead component).

2)Organizations of certain size are required to have annual certified CPA audits of their financial statements. Depending upon the size of LOL (in total revenue), they may or may not have their financials audited. No CPA would give them a "clean" opinion if they were not carrying out a bona fide mission.

3)every 501(c)3 has to file a 990 with the IRS annually. This is a non-profit federal tax return, and it has all kinds of information. Charities have to provide you with a copy of the 990 upon written request. If they don't, they face severe IRS penalties. So anyone who is very interested in seeing LOL's financial stuff should definitely make the request.

If anyone has any specific questions on non-profit financial stuff I can attempt to answer.

Monica, if registered charities didn't solicit donations, they would not be able to carry on their missions. Unfortunately, they must ask because no one is breaking down the doors trying to give money. Certain types of fundraising can be very annoying though, I will grant you that. Especially telemarketing.

Elissa

Mr Happy and Debbie

I find this subject very distressing, nevertheless I will qualify my initial response.

The kids who suffer hair loss due to cancer treatments do not require human hair. Synthetic hair does the job.

I do not believe there is any need for human hair to be removed from it

This isn't related to Locks of Love, but it gives you an indication of why I am so worked up:

Here is the link for the sale of a ponytail on ebay (this was posted on another hair board as mentioned by Jean, above).

Scroll down the page to see it. Imagine if this was your hair, or that of a loved one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2935689948&category=2415&tc=photo

Here is an extract from the seller's homepage:

"For a while now, I've been doing business with an eccentric fellow who has a hair-cutting fetish.
He's consumed with the act of cutting and isn't concerned with what's left or recouping his cost (a percentage of the ebay sale is fine with him).
As he tells me, "their willingness is payment in itself".
He gets about one a month. All are from girls accepting his cash offers, even though they end up hacked with no style.
He's evidently a real charmer and targets girls who might be desperate for cash in shady parts of town, which offers promise of many interesting stories to come.
Ponytails of this variety will be labeled "headhunter" in the auction title."

There's something a little odd about that ebay seller, Pantene (from Uzma's link.) He/she looks legitimate, but several of their recent listings include wording such as "Holly burst into tears when her ponytail was cut off." Now I am no marketing expert, but that kind of information doesn't exactly hold mass appeal for potential buyers, except perhaps those with a covetous streak. As a long-time eBay buyer/seller, I can say that that line seems a bit off to me. Almost as if the seller enjoys watching people chop their ponies off. Almost...dare I say the F-word...a fetish? Who knows. I am no expert but this just seems weird for an eBay "professional."

I'm sorry to diverge from LOL. I'm interested in what else everyone has to say about this topic.

While you may not be forced to make a donation of your hair or anything else you care about, there is still tremendous societal pressure to do so, often from people who have no other motivation than to take advantage of the chance to be confrontational under the guise of altruism and generosity. Some people are hypocrites who really don't give a d***
about the welfare of others. Please notice I said some, not all. There are many folks out there who mean well.

Peace,

Jean