J.T. Gaskins was diagnosed with leukemia when he was only 2 months old. He went through five years of chemotherapy and countless tests and checkups since. Gaskins, now a senior in high school, decided that he wanted to give back and help another child who is battling cancer. So he decided to grow his hair out in order to donate it to Locks of Love, a charity that accepts hair donations to be made into wigs for cancer patients.

His school, the Madison Academy, has strict guidelines in regards to their students’ hair, particularly the boys. Their hand book states that boys’ hair must be neat, cannot be distracting colors, has to be off the collar, and can’t be over their ears or eyes. Gaskins has been growing his hair since last summer, he’s at about 2 1/2 inches on his way to the 10 inch requirement for donation, but the school has suspended him because his hair violates school code.

Gaskins’ mother, Christa Plante, launched an online petition for her son. The petition is calling for an amendment to the school regulations about hair, asking that they make an exception to the rule for students who want to donate their hair to a charity. They are not asking that this be implemented in a way that anyone can hide behind it, they want there to be a requirement that students wishing to donate must sign a promissory note and keep the hair maintained while they are growing it out.

The petition, found here, has already grown in the past day from 4,700 signers to more than 37,000. They are looking to get 50,000 signatures to present to the school. Yahoo News spoke with the teen and he doesn’t plan to stop because of his school.

“I fought cancer my entire life—I’m going to keep fighting this,” he said. “I’m not going to not give back just because my school says no.”

He went on to explain that he is not trying to cause trouble but he does feel the school should make this exception. “I’m fighting for them to make it an option for kids to grow out their hair for Locks of Love, to make it a part of the school and raise awareness for all cancer charities out there that can help patients.”

Our New Jersey personal injury law firm has signed the petition and we now ask that you do the same. Charity and giving back to others should not be punished but praised. We applaud Gaskins for sticking to what he feels is right and we hope that the school allows him to continue his plan to help those in need.

Photo credit: WND.