It’s not difficult to tell that Ella and Madeline Kaut are sisters. But now with their matching haircuts, the resemblance is even more pronounced. The girls each sacrificed eight inches of their blonde hair in the name of Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to people under 21 years old suffering from medical hair loss.
![Madeline and Ella Kaut were feeling a bit unsure before chopping off eight inches of hair for Locks of Love, but were all smiles after it was done.[Whitney Neilson / The Observer]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/post_news_haircut.jpg)
The inspiration for their charitable efforts was family members with cancer who got wigs to cover up the effects of treatment.
“The first time Madeline got it cut, her grandmother was going through cancer,” said their mom, Jessica Kaut.
Now their great aunt is going through cancer treatment and opted for a wig made of real hair after trying a synthetic one.
“She just got a wig last week; she got a synthetic one and didn’t like it,” Jessica said.
The girls got their haircuts at The Edje in Waterloo by Sarah May. The hairdresser’s brother passed away from cancer and Jessica said she does a lot of cuts for charity.
Madeline went first while her older sister watched. She didn’t say a word as Sarah May passed her the ponytails chopped from the back of her head.
“You look so cute,” Ella said to her sister.
Madeline’s response was to stare in shock at herself in the mirror. But no tears were shed, surprising for a first haircut.
The entire process from hair donation to wig-making is free. The only time money is exchanged is if someone’s hair is donated that can’t be used and it’s sold to a theatre company in Hollywood for movie wigs. The girls’ hair will be used for wigs in North America.
Locks of Love was started in 1997 by Madonna Coffman who developed alopecia in her 20s and lost all her hair. Her daughter developed it too at four years old and Coffman decided to take on Locks of Love fulltime.
Jessica said by Christmas they’ll have long hair again, but they were feeling a bit nervous the day of the big cut.
“There’s a stuffie (stuffed animal) on the line,” Jessica said. “I’m not going to lie. There’s definitely a treat after this.”
For Ella, 7, this wasn’t her first time donating her hair. For Madeline, it was her first haircut ever at the ripe age of 3.
“Now you have big-girl hair, no more baby hair,” Ella said.
It takes six to 10 ponytails to make one hairpiece and the hair must be free from bleach. Colored or permed hair is accepted.
The first time they cut Ella’s hair for charity she was 3 and they cut it at their house with her grandparents watching. They’ve been growing it out for awhile to get the right length and wanted to cut it in time for school.
“It grows like a weed, you’ll never know,” their dad, Greg, reassured Ella while she was waiting.
In the end, they were both all smiles.
“Think how happy you’re going to make someone, Ella,” Jessica said.
“Some little kid who can’t have any hair gets to now because of you,” Sarah May added.
