BC Children's Hospital Foundation

Hello, and thank you for reading about my decision to donate to Wigs for Kids BC!

Roughly two years ago, about a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and shortly after the birth of our son Max, I made the decision to grow out my hair. It was a choice I made pretty lightly, mostly for fun and out of curiosity, without too much consideration or planning regarding how long my "long hair journey" would last. It felt like the most significant meaning I could associate with the decision was finding out an answer to the question: "can I pull this off?"

I will let others be the judge on that one

Along the way, I got quite a few questions to the effect of: "why are you doing this?" "when do you think you'll cut it?" and "are you growing out your hair to donate it?"

And my honest answers had been "I don't fully know," "I'll cut it when it feels right," and "no, I hadn't thought of that."

But here I am, getting set to donate! So what happened? I think that after two years, I got tired of these answers, and started to feel like the least I could do would be to make some good out of what has been an otherwise indulgent and mostly silly pursuit. So I decided I would grow my hair out long enough to donate it, and try to raise a bit of money along the way.

It was an easy decision to choose Wigs for Kids BC as an organization to donate to. Please read more about their mission and great work below.

Like so many others, I have had multiple personal experiences of bringing a child to BC Children's Hospital, and receiving amazing, kind, and compassionate care while there. Most recently, in October 2022 our son Max, who was little more than 1 year old at the time, developed a bad RSV infection and had to stay at BC Childrens' for a week, including several days in the pediatric ICU. This was an awful and very scary time for our family, but the care we received at the hospital was so inspiring and amazing. I have heard similar stories from many friends, peers, and colleagues, which speaks volumes to the quality of staff, volunteers, and so many others at the hospital.

Based on our own experience, I can only imagine how truly terrifying it would be to have a child navigating cancer, and how meaningful any support provided would be throughout such a dark time.

So that's what brought me here!

I will be cutting and donating my hair once it is an inch longer or so - sometime during the month of June. My hope in that time is that I can raise a $500 donation. If you choose to help with that, thank you!

I will be sharing some photos of the before and after stages - stay tuned!

With gratitude and appreciation,

David

Here is some more information about Wigs for Kids BC:

Wigs for Kids BC (W4K BC) helps kids living with cancer, live better.

A proudly volunteer-run organization, W4K BC provides funding to cover the cost of custom-made human-hair wigs for children and teens at BC Children's Hospital who have suffered hair loss due to cancer treatment or other serious illnesses. Donations to W4K BC also help families pay for medications and feeding supplies that are essential for treatment but not covered by their medical plan.

When a child has a serious illness it takes an enormous toll on the entire family–both emotionally and financially. The assistance W4K BC provides makes the family's burden a little lighter so they can focus more of their time and energy on caring for their sick child.

By contributing to W4K BC, you are making a tremendous difference in the lives of children living with cancer - and their families - across the province. Thank you for your support.