Inkom resident Justin Baumgartner recently chopped off 16 inches of his thick, luscious locks to donate to Children with Hair Loss.

“When I found out that I could donate my hair to a good cause, I was really excited,” said Baumgartner.

Children With Hair Loss is a nonprofit organization that provides human hair replacements at no cost to children and young adults facing medical-related hair loss.

Baumgartner had plans to join the U.S. Army but when that didn’t work out, he decided to grow his hair after he had shaved his head to enlist.

Baumgartner has been growing his hair out for four years now but it wasn’t until he recently graduated from the automotive technology program at Idaho State University that he figured a haircut might land him a good job.

“I just decided I needed a change,” said Baumgartner. “I really wanted to focus on finding a stable job in Idaho.”

Baumgartner’s mother has suffered from both skin cancer and breast cancer so donating his hair to kids that suffer from cancer or diseases that cause hair loss was important for him on a very personal level.

“My mom has just gone through so much,” Baumgartner said. “So when I heard this goes toward kids that have cancer, it made me feel really good about doing it.”

After hearing about many companies selling donated hair for profit, Baumgartner was happy to find an organization that directly donates the hair to children with hair loss.

Many of Baumgartner’s friends were fond of his thick wavy hair and were disappointed to see it go.

According to Baumgartner, his long hair really defined his fun-loving personality.

Most days Baumgartner wore his hair down in all its glory but would occasionally put it up in a ponytail.

Baumgartner’s new hair-do is short on the sides and back but still has a little length on the top.

Baumgartner’s best advice to someone thinking about donating their hair is to just keep growing.

“Grow it out as long as you can,” Baumgartner said. “Then you have more to donate.”