Like many others, Matt Brink went months during the initial pandemic shutdown in 2020 without getting a haircut.
Unlike others, when barbershops reopened, Brink continued to stay away, growing out his hair until it was well past his shoulders.
At first, he jokes, he was “just lazy.” But then he decided to grow it out long enough so he could donate it.
After nearly three years of growth Brink returned to Cutting Image in Whitman this week and had 14 inches of hair snipped off. On Wednesday he packaged it up and send it to childrenwithhairloss.org. a Michigan-based non-profit that provides hair replacements for children experiencing hair loss due to medical conditions. Those conditions include cancer, alopecia, and burns.
“It was time to do it,” he said. “I didn’t want it to grow as long as last time. It was getting too long.”
Back in his 20s, Brink went seven years between haircuts, before finally donating 30 inches of hair.
“The first time I donated was for my grandmother who passed away from cancer,” said Brink, now 51. “This time I wanted to help out kids.”
Brink grew up on Linwood Street before moving to Weymouth in high school. He started a landscaping business at 17 and bought a home on Hancock Street when he was 20 and cows from Henrickson’s Dairy still roamed the neighborhood.
He still lives in the same Hancock Street home, now with his wife Laura, who is an Abington Public Library Trustee, and his two children, Mallory and Colton. He also still operates the landscaping company – Matt Brink Landscaping.
“People would ask me ‘What do you do with your hair at work?’ I tell them, ‘I wear a hat,'” he said.
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