When Randi Velick chopped off her long locks of hair, she kept her goal in mind: help those with cancer.

Randi donated to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that “provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering form long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis,” for her Bat Mitzvah project. She had her Bat Mitzvah on January 15 at Temple Emanuel in Denver.

Locks of Love’s mission is to “return a sense of self, confidence and normalcy to children suffering from hair loss by utilizing donated ponytails to provide the highest quality prosthetics to financially disadvantaged children.”

There are countless organizations aimed to help children with cancer. So why did Randi decide to take matters into her own hands by donating two ponytails of about 14 inches, between her and her sister?

“I know people who have had breast cancer,” Randi said. “Friends have had breast cancer.”

Randi said that she is not sure how she decided to donate her hair, but she knows people who have done the same thing and friends that have had breast cancer are certainly an influence.

“I’d recommend that others do the same thing,” Randi said.

In honor of Randi’s bat mitzvah, and with the support of the 18 Pomegranates Foundation, Boulder Jewish News is making a contribution to Locks of Love. To donate to Locks of Love, or to learn more about the organization, visit http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html.  Know a teen working on a mitzvah project in the Boulder area? Connect with Sara@boulderjewishnews.org to learn how to share your project information with the community.