DALLAS, TX — Local hero, nine year old Annie Halpern, wasn’t looking for recognition on Sunday when she donated a nine-inch portion of her hair to the nonprofit charity Locks For Love, which provides hair prosthetics to sick children suffering from hair loss. Recognition, however, is exactly what she received.
Some have called the donation, completed as part of her fourth grade class’s mitzvah project, “the most heartwarming and selfless act this community has seen in years.” Others have lauded Annie’s courage in giving up her signature dark brown curls.
“I wanted to do something really important,” Annie said about her donation. “I hope those bald losers can appreciate my compassion.”
As soon as Annie’s Judaic studies teacher announced the assignment at the beginning of the calendar year, Annie knew she would grow out her hair. For four long months, Annie neglected to brush or even condition her hair waist-length ringlets, until the fateful day finally arrived on Sunday when Annie’s mother sheared her scraggly ponytail in front of tens of viewers on Facebook live.
When Annie, whose hair now falls just an inch below her ears, put her locks in an envelope and mailed it across the country to the nonprofit charity, she knew that her life would be defined by her mitzvah.
“It’s a true motivation to all of us of the Dallas community to see someone so young do something so revolutionary,” said Annie’s rabbi, Ben Eisenstein. “Just thinking of all the lives out there that will be touched by her kindness and the ones who will be encouraged to follow her lead… it gives me hope.”
“I’m really proud of what I did,” Annie said, “but I hate this new haircut. I didn’t think it was gonna be so short. I better get an A.”
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