Donating 15 inches of hair feels great

I don't have a sappy story to attach to this. There was no epiphany. No soap opera movie tears.

The facts were actually plain and simple.

I guess I started growing my hair out because I could. I am 35 years old and I am a journalist. My work environment and the people I work with -- well, the higher-ups -- appeared to be OK about a man with long hair (and a beard even!) so I let it grow and grow and grow.

Plus, both of my brothers (and they are going to hate me for this) are a little thin upstairs.

So I wanted to parlay the good genes my parents so graciously bestowed onto me. And after more than three years of sporting the long-haired beatnik look, I decided to go the donation route.

My amazing wife Miranda loved my long hair and had been dreading this day for a while.

She may have been the only one to shed any tears when I took a seat inside Walid Taykal's little salon studio at the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara in Abu Dhabi.

Have you ever seen 'Don't Mess With the Zohan'? Well, Walid could have played Adam Sandler's role perfectly. He is from Lebanon and is considered to be one of the best male stylists in the city.

Before Walid got to the cutting, he did all the other things stylists do: shampoo, conditioner, hair dryer, straighten, brush it, wrap the hair....

"You don't always have to straighten the hair," he told me. "But I do it for two reasons. The first is because when you donate it, it looks longer and it's nice when you send it in. And the second reason: it's more fun this way."

I had never straightened my hair before. It freaked me out. I looked like Pocahontas.

Then he worked his magic with those scissors. And with four quick snips, more than 15 inches were taken off and the transformation was complete. He refused to charge me for his services because it was a donation so a lot of credit goes to Walid and the Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa by Anantara in Abu Dhabi. Good people.

And when it came time to pick a non-profit organization to donate the hair to, I had to do some research. Hair donation is very important because a complete hair replacement costs approximately $1,800 for any man, woman or child. Plus, I did not want the recipient to have to pay for the donated hair.

Locks Of Love is probably the most popular organization for this but I found that they actually make children pay for the wigs. Not exactly non-profit if you ask me. According to this Huffington Post report, they had more than $6 million worth of donated hair that went unaccounted for two years ago. Sounds pretty shady to me.

I chose to donate my locks to Wigs for Kids. They have been around for over 30 years and have been providing hair replacement systems and support for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, Alopecia, Trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues at no cost to children or their families.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Children With Hair Loss are other non-profit organizations that will gladly accept donated hair and not charge their recipients.

Donation is a good thing.

I am lucky enough to grow long, luscious locks. Not everybody -- children included -- are afforded the same ability so if you can, donate! Trust me, it feels great.