Alyssa Castro has been donated her 10 inches hair to Locks of Love or Charity. Alyssa, a sophomore at the Alverno High School private school in Sierra Madre, took it in stride. After spent years growing her hair long, it was for a good cause.

She said “Hair grows back, I feel really great.”

Castro and 63 student Alverno students donated to locks of their hair to Locks of Love last week. Locks of Love, the non-profit organization that provides hairpieces into wigs for children suffering hair loss, primarily those undergoing cancer treatment.

Alverno’s Head of School Ann Gillick said students have tended to support the program - 50 students donated about 400 inches of their hair when it was held there in 2007. Gillick herself chopped off 11 inches of her hair that year.

“It took a while to get it back,” she said.

Last week, the 64 students donated more than 600 inches of hair to Locks of Love.

Alverno’s Pastor Chris McGuiness, who organized the event, said the school has lost a student and a faculty member to cancer, and he himself is a cancer survivor.

“What other way is there to support someone than by giving a part of yourself?” he said of the program.

Stacy Cunningham,a stylist at Diva Style in Altadena, donated her time cutting and styling for the event. For some of the girls who donated their locks, it was an emotional experience - parting with their long hair was difficult, she said.

Elisa Hernandez, 18, sat in the chair and, after conferring with Cunningham, decided to have 8 inches taken off, leaving her hair just above her shoulders. She said donated it to Locks of Love in honor of her mother, who is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer.

Hernandez said “I didn’t tell her I was going to do this, but I don’t think she will be mad.”