Summer is nearly year-round in southeast Texas so it should be no surprise that the free stuff to see and do in the sprawling metropolitan area of the nation’s fourth-biggest city focuses on the outdoors.In only three months, cancer survivor Debra Brown has met and exceeded her goal of collecting 100 wigs for Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana.
Thanks to friends, neighbors and strangers, Brown, who is a client at Cancer Services, gathered 200 wigs designed for black women, helping to fill an obvious need inside Cancer Services’ wig salon.
“I never thought I’d make it to 100,” Brown says. “I thought maybe I’d get about 50. I always thought people didn’t react to these things, but now I know they do. The feeling I have now is gratefulness. I am so grateful.”
Among the donors were churches, such as Come As Your Are Community Church, which collected 50 wigs from its members. But many of the donations came from people who’d heard about the wig drive through the grapevine.
“People were stopping me on the streets,” Brown says. “I’d run into them at the filling station and the grocery store and they’d have the wigs in the trunks of their cars.”
Before Brown began the wig drive, Cancer Services had less than a handful of wigs for black clients. The lack of diversity prompted the organization to seek help from the Fort Wayne Urban League. President Jonathan Ray offered Brown the challenge of organizing a wig drive.
“When you look at volunteer initiatives, it’s always a group effort,” Ray says. “But there is always one person who carries the water. Miss Brown spearheaded this drive. We were just glad we could help. It proves that if people know how to give back, they will.”
The response from Cancer Services clients has been overwhelming, development director Amber Recker says.
“Now that we have a healthy supply thanks to Debra, we’re able to plug our clients into that,” she says. “This has been huge to our clients, and they are extremely grateful.”
Brown hopes the wig drive will continue indefinitely, with or without her at the helm. Wigs can be dropped off at the Fort Wayne Urban League, 2135 S. Hanna St., or at Cancer Services, 6316 Mutual Drive. But Brown is happy to collect them, too.
“You’ve got to give something to get something,” she says. “Cancer Services has been a life saver for me. So whenever you see me out, I’m happy to take your wig and drop it off for you.”
