Happy to cut loose for a good cause.

Mentor man sheds hair for Locks of Love By Betsy Scott On June 17, Larry and Sherry Bortnick of Mentor become the proud parents of Rocco Anthony. The life-changing experience prompted Larry to take another big step: Cut his hair. Bortnick was growing it for the last 3½ years, in part, to qualify as a donor to Locks of Love. The program provides wigs for financially disadvantaged children with medical hair loss. Last week, he made good on his promise and brought the whole family-except for longtime member Jabot, their Maltese-to witness the momentous occasion at Jenniffer & Co. salon in Mentor.

"With summer….it will be more convenient," Bortnick said. "And I had my son. That was part of the reason. But the main reason was to donate it." He was inspired by a newspaper article he read 10 years ago about a young man who donated his hair to Locks of Love. "I thought the cause was just a good reason for donating it," said Bortnick, who confessed the charity wasn't the only reason he decided to let it grow.

"There was a slight intrigue to see how it would look long. It's the longest I ever had it," said the 41 year-old Bortnick. Wife Sherry was a little sad to see it go, though she was proud of him as well. "I loved it. I'll miss it. I think he looked pretty sexy," she said with a laugh. "We'll donate his hair when he's older," Sherry said, pointing to Rocco's shock of black, spiky hair while the infant dozed in his car/carrier seat. As salon owner Jennifer Pealer's clippers grazed near Bortnick's scalp and the hair fell softly away, Sherry exclaimed, "Oh my God. Oh my God. Wow." Pealer measured Bortnick's donatable hair at 15 inches before shearing.

"The minimum (to donate) is 10 inches, but we say 12 because we want to go the extra mile," Pealer said. "It takes 14 ponytails to make a wig." The salon is one of more then 30 in Ohio-and many more across the country-that offer haircuts in exchange for Locks of Love donations. The only other area salon listed on the Locks of Love Web site is Joseph Victor Hair Salon on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst. Jenniffer & Co. has cut nearly 6,000 inches of ponytail-almost 500 feet of hair-for the not-for-profit Locks program during the last several years, Pealer said. Locks of Love began in 1997 and more then 80 percent of donors are children, according to the Web site. In general, most of her donors are female Pealer said. Of Bortnick's contribution, she said, "I think it's great. Hair is hair. It's going to help the kids."

For more information about donating to Locks of Love, see the Web site, at www.locksoflove.org, or go to Jenniffer & Co.'s Web site, at jenniffer-and-co.com/locksoflove.asp

News Herald Wednesday July 16, 2003press section