Student pays it forward with hair donation

A student from the Innovation Academy Charter School recently reached his goal of donating 12 inches of hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit that provides hairpieces to underprivileged children who have long-term medical hair loss. During the school year, Jeffrey Smith, 11, and his teacher, Katy Lianos,  created a presentation about the organization to educate Smith's classmates, many of whom were teasing him over his increasingly long hair. Following the presentation, the bullying stopped and he received more support. Smith said he took on the cause after seeing a documentary on chemotherapy, and decided to help in honor of his grandfathers, who both died of cancer, and his uncle, who is fighting the disease.