SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — For 24 years, the Butterfly Club has been providing wigs to cancer patients across the country. Last year, they received nearly 600 requests from women for wigs.
Wilma Richards founded the nonprofit after her battle with breast cancer. She said she had three wigs and wanted to donate them when she realized there were no organizations that offered wigs.
“For many women, when hair goes away, that’s our identity,” Richards said.
She began distributing wigs in Sierra Vista, but soon expanded to provide wigs to women throughout the county, then the state, and eventually the country.
Lanaya Sherry was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 27. She didn’t know who to turn to until a doctor told her about the Butterfly Club.
“I want to say they found me,” Sherry said. “When I got cancer, I didn’t even know they existed.”
She remembers asking how she would lose her hair, since chemotherapy affects each person differently.
“I didn’t want to see it fall out either,” Sherry said. “I think that would have been worse.”
Richards and other volunteers from the nonprofit help Sherry shave her head. The founder says they help every step of the way because they want to show the recipient they have a support system.
“For some of them, this wig may be to take the last family photo because they are terminally ill and know it,” said Leah Reeder, chair of the Butterfly Club’s executive committee.
According to the National Cancer Institute, 40 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer, so Richards says it’s important to allow each individual to have their own experience when choosing a wig and when to make the decision.
“Every person, every cancer victim has a story, and for them it is very, very real,” she said.
She added: “Here the whole group is crying with them. We try to be encouraging and very honest, but … we have tissue boxes everywhere.”
Sherry didn’t wear her wig often, nor did she take many photos while wearing it. For her, the wig was more of a way to avoid people staring at her or asking her questions she couldn’t answer.
“The one thing you don’t want to worry about is how you look,” she said. “You don’t want to feel uncomfortable in your own skin.”
The wigs cost thousands of dollars because Richards insists on high quality. And while there are cheaper alternatives, Richards knows what’s best for her wearers.
“It’s the support itself that you don’t necessarily get when you want to buy a wig (yourself),” she said.
The Butterfly Club relies on monetary donations to purchase the wigs. Richards says they have an application form and a vetting process to ensure all wigs go to women with a recent cancer diagnosis.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career as a reporter for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which is also her hometown. Share your story ideas with Alexis via email [email protected] or by connecting on Facebook.
