Peer pressure is not always a bad thing. Just ask Furman University seniors Karissa King and Jessica Griffin and junior Sarah Scott. All are softball student-athletes determined to make a difference in the lives of children in need.

The trio teamed up to grow their hair with an eye toward eventually donating strands to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 who suffer from hair loss due to medical reasons.

Established in 1997, Locks of Love accepts donated lengths of hair at least 10, but preferably 12 inches long and free of damage caused by chemical processing. The hair is used to manufacture custom, vacuum-fitted hairpieces free of charge, or on a sliding scale, to children who meet specific criteria set by the organization. Locks of Love has assisted more than 1,000 children since its inception.

King got the idea to participate from her mother, who met a woman who continually grows and donates her hair to the organization.

"I was growing my hair out anyway, so my Mom mentioned Locks of Love and I thought it sounded like a neat thing to do," she said.

A few months later, King discovered that her teammate, Scott, also was grooming her tresses for Locks of Love. For Scott, though, it was more personal. Part of her motivation came from memories of her grandmother's loss of hair during a battle with breast cancer.

Scott's grandmother lived in California when first diagnosed and the softball player didn't see her grandmother for a long time. When she finally did, her grandmother had lost her hair.

"What I remember was that the little things made her really happy," said Scott. "So I thought I would donate my hair and make someone happy."

The third member of the group, Griffin, jokingly said she agreed to her teammates' "hair"-brained idea out of peer pressure. But, on a much more serious note, Griffin acknowledged a cousin who had been diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 20s. Since the cousin had been in remission for almost five years when Griffin made the decision to grow her hair for Locks of Love, Griffin didn't initially think about doing it in honor of her cousin.

"But since then the cancer has come back and she had lost all her hair," said Griffin. "So, it is really quite a coincidence."

On May 16, the threesome headed to Wilson's on Washington, a salon in Greenville, South Carolina, to fulfill a commitment they'd made among themselves some two years earlier.

They got haircuts.

More importantly, they helped someone in need. And that, according to Scott, is what made the experience valuable for her.

"At the end of the day we are just glad we were able to do something good for someone else. That's the best part of this whole experience.