This Mom and Her Six Brave Sons Donated 17 Feet to Charity

Wherever they went, Phoebe Kannisto and her six sons stood out a little bit because all seven of them sported long, flowing manes. For the past few years, her 10-year-old son, Andre, 8-year-old identical twin sons Silas and Emerson, and 5-year-old fraternal triplets Herbie, Reed, and Dexter have been growing out their hair so they could donate their extra locks to sick patients through Children with Hair Loss.

The boys had been growing out their hair for different lenghts of time varying ranging between 1-5 years and last month they went to local Hizair Hair Salon and cut almost 17 feet (5 meters) off of their strands. Hizair staff worked after hours on the cuts and refused to take payments from the family.

For the Kannistos, the visit to the salon – and subsequent donation – made all their efforts worthwhile. School was often tough for the boys as they were bullied for their “girly” looks, but they always held their heads high and focused on the end goal.

Kannisto told HuffPost that she’s “so proud” of her children. “I love that they want to help other children,” she said. “They’re already making predictions on how long it will take them to grow their hair out to donate again.” The curageous boys are already planning their next donation since their little sister wants to participate. This time around her hair wasn’t long enough to donate, but seeing her brothers do something so selfless motivated her to follow in their footsteps and give part of herself to others in need.