Collecting Hats for Kids with Cancer

Resident Tara Lawrence is an avid hat collector, but not for herself.

Instead, she ships them to children around the world who suffer from cancer and have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy.

At 14, Lawrence started the nonprofit organization Hats Off for Cancer.

Fourteen years and 950,000 hats later, Hats Off for Cancer has become a global effort, with chapters in Canada, Germany, Japan, Australia and Honduras.

Large boxes of donated hats are delivered to Lawrence's Calabasas home and then are shipped to hospitals and camps for ill children around the world.

"We have bucket hats, baseball hats, baby hats—we have all types of hats," Lawrence said as she looked through a box in her living room.

Her interest in helping cancer patients was sparked when her grandfather died of prostate cancer when she was 10 years old.

"I felt like I had to do something for the families out there that felt the same pain," Lawrence said.

She realized that giving a child a hat would allow them to be more comfortable going outside and let them just be kids.

An added benefit is that the hats provide sun protection for sensitive skin affected by chemotherapy.

"One thing that kids hate the most is losing their hair," she said.

With this idea in mind, Lawrence founded Hats Off for Cancer with the help of her volunteer-minded family and local organizations in her New Jersey hometown.

"I started contacting local hospitals and found that there is a great need for this," she said.

Lawrence works with corporations that donate hats and celebrities who autograph them.

Hats with logos from Skittles and the New York Knicks as well as autographed ones from the Kardashian sisters and 'N Sync could be seen in some of the large boxes in her apartment.

Retirement communities have also pitched in by knitting hats for children.

"You appreciate the simplest gift 10 times more when you are facing your mortality," Lawrence said. "You don't think it's such a big deal—it's a hat—but it's one less bill for the parent and it's a gift to a child that lets them know that there are thousands of people out there who care."

Hats Off for Cancer works with an array of hospitals and organizations, including St. Jude's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA and Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children.

When she can, Lawrence makes personal deliveries to children, bringing them a box of hats so they can choose their favorite.

"One time I delivered a hat to a little African girl who only spoke French. I don't speak French so I just held her hand through chemo as our moms stood in the doorway crying," she said.

But after a delivery is made, Lawrence says she does not try to keep in touch.

"Not because I don't love them, it just makes it easier to move forward," she said.

On Oct. 6, Hats Off for Cancer will host Mad Hatter Day, a global hat drive.

"It's just a great way to mobilize the general public to get involved," Lawrence said.

So far, 99 teams have registered, including representatives from some Calabasas schools. Lawrence said she hopes to collect 50,000 hats and hit the million mark.

"The best is when the kids give to other kids," she said.

In sight of her goal of reaching a million hats, Lawrence is thinking of more ways to connect people with children who are diagnosed with cancer.

"My dream is to continue collecting hats but also create a scholarship fund to help the survivors' families send their kids to college after dealing with the hospital bills and a camp for the children and their families to just have fun," she said.

To learn more about Hats Off for Cancer, click here.