At Benzie Central High School in Michigan, teacher Danielle Schafer is making a difference for kids both in and out of the classroom.
After her school’s travel program was shut down, Mrs. Schafer partnered with another teacher to bring it back — this time with an emergency fund to ensure every student who wanted to visit Washington, DC could participate, regardless of financial need.
To help jump-start the fund, she set a bold challenge: if students could raise $5,000, she would shave her head in front of the entire student body and donate her ponytails to Wigs For Kids.
The students met the challenge, and Mrs. Schafer delivered on her promise. Stylist Emily Rafferty sectioned the hair for donation, cut and packaged the ponytails for Wigs For Kids, then shaved Mrs. Schafer’s head completely bald during the Spirit Week Pep Assembly, in front of both the middle and high school students.
This wasn’t the first time Mrs. Schafer went above and beyond for her students. Seven years ago, she also shaved her head to help raise money for a student battling pediatric cancer.
We are honored to have caring individuals like Mrs. Schafer share their hair to support our kids.
To remind our recipients that a whole community stands behind them, we include special donor stories like hers in the correspondence sent to families as they await their free of charge hairpieces.
Thanks to support from both hair and financial donors, we helped more than 1,000 kids in 2025 receive free wigs, and we’re on track to help even more children in 2026!
Start a fundraising event in your community, inspire others to grow and give, and help us reach even more kids this year!
If you are a stylist interested in helping our children, please click here for more information.
If you are interested in donating your hair, please click here for more information.
For recipient stories, please click here.
For more ways to support Wigs For Kids, please click here.
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