My inspiration to start Heavenly Hats™ started after spending time in hospitals when my grandma had breast cancer (The photo is my grandma and me, she is doing great). I was able to see all of the patients in the hospitals, many without hair, and wanted to do something to help. I knew that if I was in the hospital and had lost my hair I would want a hat to wear.
It was in May of 2001, when I was ten years-old that I came up with the idea for Heavenly Hats™. It started out small and I thought that it would probably stay that way. I started by putting donation barrels in local stores and asking around my hometown for donations of new hats. The hats started to be donated and I was able to provide some hats to a few local hospitals.
A short time later the media heard about my program and really helped me to spread the word. This generated donations of hundreds of hats from businesses and individuals. At that point I started sending hats to hospitals in Wisconsin.
My next step was emailing hat companies and embroidery companies all over the world and asking for donations. This effort produced hats pouring in from as far away as Australia and Europe. It was at that point that I knew that I would be able to start sending the hats to hospitals and clinics all over the United States.
To date I have been able to donate over 5,500,000 new hats to medical patients in need around the United States and other countries.
Please note that any hat donations must be BRAND-NEW due to the low immune systems of our recipients.
The Heavenly Hats Foundation™, a Wisconsin non-profit corporation is recognized as an exempt organization under section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.