Summer is finally upon us! And with summer comes some amazing events with Jeffrey Paul Salon and Wigs for Kids — most importantly our ‘Wigs for Kids day at the Zoo‘ where thousands of participants walk/run and donate to support children in need. Children like Lauren McManaway.
Lauren McManaway, age 7, is a 2013 Wigs for Kids recipient. Lauren is a beautiful 7 year old girl who is always smiling and fun loving! She loves to sing, do tumbling and to skate. Her favorite sports are cheer and gymnastics. She is a member of a mini cheer team Level 3 and is a Midwest National Champion. Lauren has 3 siblings, one of which is her twin sister. She enjoys jumping on her trampoline with her sisters and practicing her newly acquired skills in gymnastics. Lauren is a big fan of trying to beat her older brother at xbox!
This week, I want to spotlight an organization that’s very close to my heart. Wigs for Kids is a nonprofit organization that I started over 30 years ago when my beautiful niece came to me and told me that she would be losing her hair due to Leukemia. My niece, Laura, is no longer with us, but her legacy lives on every day when donors from all over the country cut off their pony-tails and donate them to children in need through our nonprofit organization.
These children are school-aged kids who are suffering from medical related hair loss, many of them suffering from Alopecia. Wigs for Kids will hand make a customized hair replacement system, worth roughly $1800 a piece, and donate the wigs to the child in need – for free. With the Wigs for Kids wigs, children can run, skip, hop, tumble and swim just like any child their age without worrying about what they look like.
But it’s not just the hair that’s life-altering for these children. Our spokesperson, Annie who came to Wigs for Kids with Alopecia in 4th grade, recently won a $50,000 college scholarship from the Maltz Museum Stop Hate contest for an essay she wrote (watch below). What Annie told the world is that Wigs for Kids did not just give her back her physical appearance, the organization helped her regain her self confidence – she’s now able to live life as a normal child. (Simply amazing, don’t you agree?)
And that, as Annie noted, is the mission of Wigs for Kids – to help children live their lives. And we can accomplish that for hundreds of children every year with the support of fans, organizations and celebrities like the Green Bay Packer’s AJ Hawk, The Carolina Panthers’ Cam Newton, The New Orleans Saints’ Thomas Morstead and many more.
Thank you so much for your support. To learn more about our organization or Alopecia, click the links below:
Mother’s Day is a beautiful reminder to celebrate the women in our lives who are doing extraordinary things every single day. This year,Wigs for Kids had the pleasure of presenting the ‘Mother of the Year’ award at the 95.5 Fish Mom Squad luncheon on Saturday May 11th. A total of 50 deserving moms within the Cleveland area were nominated and we’re proud to announce the winner, Christine Boyle.
Christine is a mother who has 2 very special children. Her daughter requires around-the-clock care, all of which Christine provides in her home. In addition, Christine and her husband recently adopted a son from El Salvatore who also has many health concerns. Not only is Christine a wonderful Mother, she is able to help others by speaking with health care professionals about the needs and care for children and taking trips all over the world with her church to care for under privileged children. Below I’ve included a video of her entry including some beautiful photos of Christine and her children.
Your hair donation is a very precious thing, it’s precious to you because your hair is a part of who you are and, it’s just as precious to the recipient of your hair, whose life your donation will change. Here is a quick video I pulled from our charity Wigs for Kids, that demonstrates a few quick instructions to ensure your hair donation is usable. Thank you again for your donations and know that your contribution is helping children look themselves and live their lives!
Steps:
1. Secure your hair donation at the end where you cut the pony tail, and then every two inches until you reach the end of the donation.
2.Wrap the secured donation in tissue paper or newspaper.
3. Put the wrapped donation in a zip lock bag.
4. Label your donation with the length of the hair.
We are so proud, we can’t stop smiling! Last Thursday Wigs For Kids spokesperson Annie won a $50,000 scholarship with her essay for the Maltz Museum of Jewish HeritageStop the Hate contest. We will be posting a video of Annie’s speech and an interview with Annie about her experience, but we couldn’t wait a minute longer to share this story with you! Don’t recognize Annie? Watch her story here –> http://bit.ly/128NbEd
Summer is finally upon us! And with summer comes some amazing events with Jeffrey Paul Salon and Wigs for Kids — most importantly our ‘Wigs for Kids day at the Zoo‘ where thousands of participants walk/run and donate to support children in need. Children like Lauren McManaway.
This week, I want to spotlight an organization that’s very close to my heart. 