If there's one thing Natallie Brooks' family has a lot of, it's hair.

Combined, they have so much hair, in fact, that they've decided it should be used for something more than keeping the backs of their necks warm.

Beginning July 30, Brooks and her extended family will cut their hair and donate it to Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children with long-term medical hair loss.

The idea to donate a lot of hair at once to the organization came during last year's American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Casper.

"I'd wanted to cut my hair, and then at Relay last year we decided that next year we'd all cut our hair," Brooks said. "It'll be a thing our family will do together."

A couple of years ago, Brooks and her mother had surgery to remove lumps from their breasts within two weeks of each other.

"We've gone through a lot with cancer and there's a lot of cancer in our family, so we thought we would do it [cutting hair] as a family," Brooks said. "Then I got kind of excited about things."

And in her excitement, she decided to get an official Locks of Love day in Wyoming. She wrote a few letters and was granted 3 days - 72 hours - of sponsored cutting time by Casper Mayor Paul Bertoglio.

"As soon as people starting hearing about it, they were going and cutting their hair off right away," Brooks said. "Salons started calling us and telling us they had hair for us. Then a salon called us and told us they'd love to host it, and that's how we got our cut-a-thon."

Dubbed "72 hours of Love," the cut-a-thon will begin at Ego Trip salon in Casper.

With ten inches of donated hair, Locks of Love can use the hair to make actual hairpieces. Six inches or more can be sold for the company's manufacturing costs. Donated hair can be colored, but not bleached.

Brooks said she hopes area businesses will donate money per inch of hair that's donated during the drive.

"If we can get several businesses to donate for each inch, that would be great," she said.

12-year-old Emily Erdahl will cut her long hair at the opening ceremony for the Relay for Life, hopefully spurring others at the Casper event to do the same.

Even though she's had long hair for years, Brooks said she's not afraid to let it go because she knows she's helping people.

"I know a lot of people don't think that many people with cancer actually get the wigs, but since we decided to do this and it's actually been progressing, I've come across so many people that want to donate because their mom had cancer," she said. "I've met so many people that have benefitted from Locks of Love."

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com

For more information, contact Natallie Brooks at (307) 797-1609 or call the American Cancer Society Casper office at (307) 235-0044.