Free Wigs 4 Kids generously provides wigs for children who have lost their hair as the result of autoimmune disease, alopecia, radiation or chemotherapy. Hair stylist Quilla Bohannon started the organization in August of 2018. Since, she said she has single-handedly made more than 1,000 wigs for boys and girls in nearly every corner of the globe.
Bohannon, who lost her great-grandmother to leukemia, got the idea for her nonprofit after making a wig for the daughter of a mutual friend who had suffered hair loss. After posting a picture of the wig, Bohannon said her social media lit up with requests to make wigs for kids all over the world.
After receiving so many wig requests from kids and parents, Quilla started a Gofundme to purchase supplies to create these wig request. The gofundme page surpassed its goal within 2 days and she was able to start the 501c3 pending orgranizatino Free Wigs 4 Kids, inc, “I never thought I would be making wigs for kids,” she said, “and I didn’t know anything about starting a nonprofit, but I feel like this is my divine calling.” Interested families can fill out an application for a free wig at www.freewigs4kids.org.
Bohannon asks that parents send in three pictures of their child so she can see the condition of their hair and look at their eyes and skin tone. Once approved, families can choose from the wig styles on Bohannon’s website, and she will create a wig in the hair color of their choice. Bohannon is a one-woman operation. She makes all of the wigs herself, a process she said takes between one and three days.
When she’s not making wigs, Bohannon also manages her duties as a full-time mom, which means caring for her daughter and nephew, who are learning from home. “I have a good support system. My mother and my sister are always helping me,” she said. “I built my salon in my home, so it’s convenient. It’s hard, but it’s better this way.” Bohannon wants to continue to grow her organization and hopes that Free Wigs 4 Kids will eventually become a household name. She wants to be one of the largest providers of free wigs for children with hair loss.
To learn more about how you can support, visit freewigs4kids.org or gofundme.com/freewigs4kids.
Get to know Quilla:
“Your greatness is not what you have, it’s what you give”. –anonymous For Quilla Bohannon, hair artistry has always been a work of heart. She is a completely self- taught hair artist. Hair creation is where her passion lies. She only has to see it once, and she can replicate any style. Her love for creating hair styles began early in her life. She braided and curled her way through high school. She attended Tulane University in New Orleans. There, once again, she became known for her talent to manage even the most unmanageable hair in her dorm. Today, she continues to advance in creating styles for both; adults and children, but it is through her love of children and her innovative mastery of the artistry of hair that Free Wigs 4 Kids was born. This latest journey began as a hairstylist her home salon, Runway Hair, primarily for women and children’s hairstyles.
That soon led Quilla into creating wigs. While working on a wig one evening, Qulla’s 6 year old daughter, Alexy urged her to use her talents towards kids with no hair. Alexy wondered aloud if it was possible for her mother to make these afflicted kids wigs? This was the beginning of something exciting! Using Alexy’s own head as a mold, Quilla was able to produce a wig for a child suffering from hair loss of a family she had been following on social media. The family’s gratitude, and the joyful, confident reaction from the child resulted in the creation of Free Wigs 4 Kids. Quilla immediately launched a GoFundMe campaign to help support the purchase of more supplies to create more wigs for more affected children. The requested amount was $5000, however, in 2 days, Free Wigs 4 Kids raised $7500.
“When you have confidence, you can do anything.” –Sloane Stevens
Since the inception of Free Wigs 4 Kids, the requests for wigs have come from all over globe—from as far as Thailand and the Philippines “We’ve received videos of their alopecia and how they’ve gone bald”, says Quilla. “Everybody suffers from hair loss, but I never thought it was [effecting] all ethnicities.” There is a need, and this need is cost prohibitive for many families that also face the costs associated with expensive medical treatments, transportation costs, medication related to their illness, and just meeting the day to day expenses of living. Oftentimes, paying out extra money for what can be viewed as an unnecessary, cosmetic enhancement is put on a backburner. It is a needed for the confidence and the esteem of the child–a consideration Quilla is not willing to overlook or take lightly.
To help meet the demanding workload, Quilla had enlisted the help of her family. She has taught them how to create each hand-tied lace front wig. It is through them that she can maintain quality control and high standards, and still provide personalization through allowing the kids in need to pick out their own styles, which include age-appropriate looks, like braids and beads, ponytails—whatever they deem to be their “look”—a very important feature of the plan.
The goal of creating the Free Wigs 4 Kids Non Profit is to fill a much needed gap in the hairpiece donation market. The people that would be helped by this nonprofit organization are the most marginalized people In our world. Those that are effected by poverty, sickness, and then further isolated by the stigma of shame. Wigs for children suffering from hair loss are no longer free. These families can expect to pay around $1800. per hairpiece. The value is evident, as the process of handcrafting each wig is tedious and time consuming. Quilla Is committed to continuing to create these confidence-restoring hairpieces for kids in need. However, further support is needed to further realize this worthy endeavor.
“No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child.” –Abraham Lincoln
Free Wigs for Kids supports Operation Mobility
www.vgpifoundation.org
