Farmington Hills Woman's Donation Helps Create Wigs for Cancer Patients

Farmington Hills resident Stefanie Cairns will graduate from Michigan State University this weekend, with shorter hair. 

Cairns, 21, is a first-time donor to the Beautiful Lengths program, a partnership between Pantene and the American Cancer Society. Her donation will be used in making real-hair wigs given to women suffering from hair loss as a result of cancer treatment.

Stefanie's 18-year-old sister Christina has donated twice; their mother, Rosemary, is a cancer survivor. 

"I've been thinking about it for a while," Stefanie said of her donation. She let her hair grow for more than a year, "so it wasn't so short when I had it cut."

The 10-inch donation was made last month at Douglas J Aveda School, near Michigan State's campus. The stylist "put it in a ponytail and chopped it all off. I tried not to look," Stefanie said. 

According to the Beautiful Lengths program website, Pantene has donated 18,000 free real-hair wigs to the American Cancer Society’s wig banks, which distribute wigs to cancer patients across the country. 

For more information, call the American Cancer Society’s Wig Bank Line at 1-877-227-1596.