The participants were Deidra Langstaff of Langstaff Marketing, and Mary Beth Hobby of HeritageBank. Both Langstaff and Hobby have had family members diagnosed with cancer. Langstaff’s grandmother died of lung cancer in February; Hobby’s mother is a breast cancer survivor.
“This is something anyone can do and feel they are giving back,” Hobby said. “I was in the 8th grade when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it took our family by shock that it can happen so fast.”
Even today, Hobby said her mother has to get screened every six months to ensure the cancer doesn’t come back.
The two women, who used to work together at Langstaff Marketing until Hobby left in March, had decided to get their hair cut together.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Langstaff. “It’s just hair, so why not do it?”
When asked what she would say to someone considering to participate in Locks of Love, Hobby replied: “It’s a chance to have fun with you hair. It’s time for a change, so why not have a change and have fun at the same time?”
Langstaff donated 10 inches of her hair, and Hobby donated nine inches to the cause.
“We all leave a legacy. If I don’t do anything else, I want to say I did this,” Langstaff said. “The fact is that its easy, and its a good cause.”
Langstaff sits on the boards of Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, Albany Chamber of Commerce, Keep Albany/Dougherty Beautiful and the Anchorage. She is also a former preident of the Junior League of Albany. She owns Langstaff Marketing in Albany and was recognized this year by Georgia Trend magazine on its 40 Under 40 list of young Georgia leaders.
Hobby is a member of the 2008-09 class of Leadership Albany and a board member of the Southwest Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross, as well as the Georgia 4-H Counselor Alumni Association. She currently works as the marketing director for HertiageBank.
Locks of Love is a public, nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the U.S. and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. For more information on Locks of Love, visit www.locksoflove.org.
