Wigs for a Cause: Volunteers Break Out the Yarn to Bring Joy to Young Cancer Fighters
5/28/2020
The Magic Yarn Project finished off their third annual Gold Workshop at Mat-Su Regional Medical Center on Saturday, Sept. 7, by making 124 brand-new yarn wigs to send to pediatric cancer patients all over the world.
Back in 2014, founder of Magic Yarn, Holly Christensen was inspired to make a wig for a friend’s daughter who was battling cancer. After seeing how much joy the wig brought to this one girl, she posted on Facebook requesting donations of yarn in order to expand her project and the post spread quickly across social media.
“It started out just a local effort, but really went viral pretty quickly. We were getting emails from people all over the world,” she said.
Since that day, volunteers have made over 20,000 Magic Yarn Project wigs for cancer patients in more than 50 countries. The project has grown especially in the last several years, and there are now 25 wig-making chapters across the nation and one in Mexico. Christensen plans to broaden Magic Yarn chapters into Europe in the future as well as expand the workshops into conventions where people can learn the art of wig making.
The mission is twofold, she says. One purpose is to make beautiful wigs for children battling cancer, but the project is also an opportunity to encourage volunteerism in the community. A single wig takes 1 to 2 hours to create, but the process is a fun one. By the end of the Gold Workshop, volunteers were begging to make just one more before going home.
The most popular wigs resemble Rapunzel and Elsa hair, but Magic Yarn makes a whole variety of Disney princess wigs. The boys love the superhero beanies, but the high demand comes from girls, according to Christensen.
“It’s a big physical change for them and so it not only gives them some hair again but it also helps them to play and dress up and make believe,” she said.
Yarn donations are welcome, but are needed in preapproved brands and colors to avoid the skin irritation that is caused by cancer treatment. The wigs are designed to be soft and comfortable, but also colorful and fun. More about donations as well as instructional videos, wig patterns, photos and other helpful information can be found at TheMagicYarnProject.com.
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