Kind Kids - Jay and His HAIR!

Shining the light on a KIND KID today!

Meet Jay.  Jay and his family live in our community, and recently his mom Brandi posted some photos of a MAJOR KIND ACT that he did.

Before...

Jay shaved off his hair and donated it so that a child with cancer could get a wig!!

Isn’t that awesome??  I thought it was so cool that I wanted to make sure his story got told – so here it is!

Jay is 10 years old.  Every time I have ever seen him, he has had long hair.  I mean, I think long hair was kind of his thing.  So WHY would he decide to cut it all off and donate it???  I asked him that question, and the answer made sense.

He was inspired by his dad, who donated his hair a while back.  But to me, an adult making this bold, kind move and a kid going for it are 2 completely different things.  Both are kind, of course, but a kid doing it is SUPER KIND, right??

I asked Jay how long he had been growing his hair out.  He got a big grin and said, “5 years.  Half my life!!!”. 

You read that right.  Jay had been growing his hair for half his life, and he was kind enough to cut it all off so that another kid could get a nice wig.  He told me his hair was 12” – 13”, and before it was cut off the stylist put it in a bunch of little pony tails.  And then – buzzzzz – the ponies were cut off with a razor, and Jay left with a fuzzy buzz cut.

Look at all of that hair!

Jay and I talked about some of the reasons kids might need wigs, and how special it is to get one made of real hair.  “Why did you want to donate it?” I asked.  “Well, I felt bad for people who don’t get to have hair.  I just wanted to be kind, cuz I thought somebody might use it.  I didn’t need all that hair!  And my hair grows back, some people’s might not,” he said.  “And how did it feel after it was shaved off??” I asked as a logical follow-up.  “It feels way lighter!  And I’m less hot!” he said with a grin.

After!!!

And lest you think this was a “one and done”, Jay has a plan.  He is going to donate his hair every 2 years!  You read that right, his idea is, “2 years short, 2 years grow, donate,” and repeat.  Isn’t that awesome?

We chatted about being kind in general, and how fun that is.  I know Jay to be a super kind human and have been lucky enough to witness other kind stuff he has done. He told me that sometimes he actively thinks about being kind, and sometimes it “just happens”. 

In closing, Jay had some great words of advice: “If you read this story, then just try and be kind.”

If you are thinking of donating your hair, check out the organization Jay gave his to – Wigs for Kids.  You can find more about them here:  Wigs for Kids

 

And if you know of a kind human and want us to share their story, please let us know!  Send us an email at:  KindnessActivist@gmail.com .  We love to hear kind stuff!  And if you want to learn more about Kindness Activist, just look at our website:  Kindness Activist

 

P.S. - Jay is going to be rocking a "Kind is Cool" Kindness Activist shirt soon, and guess what?  It was designed by ANOTHER KIND KID, Dexter!