Justine Probst is a 23 year old young woman from Germany living in the USA as an au pair with Au Pair in America. I met Justine when she arrived to her host family in Center Moriches in August 2013. As the Suffolk County Community Counselor for Au Pair in America, part of my job is to visit with new au pairs and help them through their year in America. Her long brown hair, ready smile and slim build were memorable. An intelligent young woman, she was excited about starting her year in America with her host family, caring for their children, learning about America and taking classes at Suffolk Community College.

Each month the Suffolk County au pairs get together for an activity and Justine always attends the activities. On Sunday, November 17^th, over 200 au pairs from Au Pair in America who live with Long Island and Westchester host families, enjoyed the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in NYC. I immediately noticed Justine’s cute short new hair style and asked what made her take such a big step to cut off her hair. She said she did it for Locks of Love. We made a date to chat this week about why and how this was done.

Au Pair in America is a wonderful experience for young women from 60 countries around the world who spend a year or two with a host family caring for their children up to 45 hours a week, taking some classes at local colleges, and learning about American culture. But part of this experience is being away from loved ones back home. Justine learned a family member in German has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She wanted to do something, but knew traveling home would not change her relative’s outcome, that she would lose her time in the USA; but she knew she had to do something meaningful. She found Locks of Love online and decided she could donate her long brown hair.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. You just need 10 inches of hair that has not been bleached or highlighted tied back in a ponytail or braid to donate.

Justine followed the directions on the Locks of Love website, went to a salon, cut off her ponytail and mailed it off to Locks of Love. I am very proud that Justine found this wonderful way to do something to honor her relative with breast cancer. Justine said her family member caught the cancer early through self-examination and her outcome is expected to be good. A lucky young child will one day be wearing Justine’s Locks of Love and hopefully will have a good outcome, too. Thank you Justine Probst!

Interested in Au Pair in America?  Check out  www.aupairinamerica.com