OREM – According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, each year in the United States about 13,400 children are diagnosed with cancer. Statistically, about one in 300 boys and one in 333 girls will develop cancer before their 20th birthday. An estimated 10,450 new cases and 1,350 cancer deaths are expected to occur among children 14 or younger in 2014, and an additional 5,330 new cases and 610 cancer deaths are expected among adolescents (those aged 15-19 years). These cancers represent 1 percent of all new cancers diagnosed in the U. S. "There’s something that we all can do," said Erika Terriquez, a Saint Francis of Assisi parishioner, who started helping ill kids five years ago when her own 3-year-old was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. "Since we went to the doctor I told my husband that she [my daughter] was going to be okay," said Terriquez, and so she has been; but that experience planted the seed of helping others in Terriquez. "Sophia has always had wonderful hair and somehow I thought about all those kids that have cancer, so I started researching about institutions that are dedicated to help them," said Terriquez. She found associations such as Wigs for Kids that are dedicated to making wigs at no charge for the recipients or their families. "I thought if we can help them like that, we are going to do it," Terriquez said. "I explained that to my little one and she loved the idea and told me to cut her hair to donate it." "The effects of hair loss go deeper than just a change in a child’s outward appearance. Hair loss can erode a child’s self-confidence and limit them from experiencing life the way children should. With an injured self-image, a child’s attitude toward treatment and their physical response to it can be negatively affected also," reads the Wigs for Kids webpage. Terriquez learned that to make a wig, 20 to 30 donations are needed. The donations must be a minimum of 12 inches long. The hair has to be natural – not permed, color treated or highlighted, because hair that has been chemically processed will not withstand the chemical processing to sanitize the hair. "So I started promoting the donations here at my store as well as the parish," said Terriquez. "Hair always grows back and sometimes people are just so attached to material things, but when I tell them the difference that they can make in a child’s life that opens their eyes." She also wants people to know that instead of trashing their hair when they get a haircut they can bring it to her and she will mail it to the association. "Just comb it in a braid and cut it and donate it; this is something that we all can do and it doesn’t cost anything," said Terriquez. Terriquez can be contacted at 801-226-1493 or at Sophia’s Special Occasions, 352 N. State St. in Orem.
Stay Connected With Us