Local 72-year-old entrepreneur donates hair to Locks of Love | Featured | ivpressonline.com

Oct 14, 2024

IMPERIAL — Resonating with the cancer awareness cause, Raymundo “Ray” Derma, owner of Derma’s Floor Covering for 46 years, donated his hair for the second time to the non-profit Locks of Love.

Locks of Love was established in the year 2000 and offers personalized hair prosthetics to underprivileged children up to the age of 21 who have experienced hair loss due to medical problems like alopecia, burn injuries, and cancer treatments, according to the Locks of Love website.

“I just decided to let it go one more time,” Derma said while he was getting his hair cut. “I see it's a good cause and I hope it inspires people.”

To take good action and inspire others, Derma reunited with his family members at Derma’s Floor Covering shop on Wednesday, November 29 to get a haircut after 4 years.

“I set a goal to do it,” Ray Derma said, “and I said, ‘You got to do it before Christmas.’”

A long-time friend and past neighbor of Derma and Derma’s family, Art Sanchez, who had a hair salon for 30 years and had been cutting the hair of the 72-year-old entrepreneur for years, cut the almost 13 inches.

Derma and Sally Derma, his wife, said that what motivates him deeply is their daughter, who passed away when she was 6 years old from leukemia due to lack of treatment at the time.

Although the reason was noble for Derma, the good humor was spread in the room while Derma’s family cheered for him and showed pride in his act when Sanchez got the work done.

“The cause is good,” Sally Derma said.

“We didn't have girls, so I didn't have long hair in the house and then with him (Ray Derma), there's like the drains that get clogged up, and there's just hair everywhere,” she said laughing.

Derma had previously donated his hair to Locks of Love on February 25, 2006, and wanted to keep doing the act of kindness.

“In 20 years you will be doing this again,” Ray Derma said about donating his hair in the future while he looked at Sanchez.

“You're a constant supporter,” Sanchez said.

The family business continuously supports St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and sponsored many breast cancer awareness programs in October at cancer centers.

Locks of Love guidelines are a hairpiece of a minimum length of 10 inches — to get more information about donating hair and helping the Locks of Love cause visit the website: locksoflove.org

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Now, more than ever, the world needs trustworthy reporting—but good journalism isn’t free.Please support us by subscribing or making a contribution.

Sunny. Hot. High 98F. Winds light and variable.

A clear sky. Low 61F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Sunny. Hot. High 96F. Winds light and variable.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.