Like any parent, Anna just wanted her daughter to know she was doing the right thing by donating her hair and wanted to make sure her daughter did not think her hair "wasn't good enough" because of its natural Afro texture.
GARDENA, Calif. (PRWEB) December 23, 2020
After failing to find any Children’s human hair wig charities that would accept Anna’s daughters textured Afro hair donation, Anna found a possible solution through Detroit based Wigs 4 Kids and their California based wigmaker HairArt.
Whether in the United States or in the U.K., 2020 is a hard time to be a Black parent. The pervasive anti-blackness experienced by Black people around the world has found a loud voice in recent years and keeping Black children safe, positive, and feeling worthy is harder than ever.
Anna Mudeka is an artist and a passionate ambassador for the arts and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, in particular her native country of Zimbabwe. She and her family are residents of the U.K. and she recently learned something shocking when her beautiful daughter wanted to do something altruistic for other children.
Many children in America know that if they have long hair, they can donate it to make wigs for children who suffer from hair loss. These ailments and conditions include chemotherapy, surgeries, burn injuries, and alopecia, an autoimmune disease shared by up to 147 million people world-wide including American congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.
Anna Mudeka’s daughter has a full head of long, gorgeous, textured hair and in this season of giving, she wanted to donate it to a young child who was suffering from insecurity and loss of confidence due to hair loss.
And this is where it started going wrong.
In her search for a charity in the U.K. to donate her daughter’s natural Black hair, Anna read on one charity's website that they do not accept Afro hair. Then Anna was directed to a children’s charity, but that charity told her they did not accept donations of textured hair even though they provided human hair wigs to Black children.
Like any parent, Anna just wanted her daughter to know she was doing the right thing by donating her hair and wanted to make sure her daughter did not think her hair "wasn't good enough" because of its natural Afro texture.
After her unsuccessful search the U.K., Anna found the American non-profit organization Wigs 4 Kids, which helps youths in metropolitan Detroit who have experienced hair loss due to cancer. Wigs4Kids is run by Maggie Varney, a licensed cosmetologist who has been in the beauty industry for over 40 years and she is passionate about her work.
Utilizing her passion and expertise in the beauty industry, along with her business development experience, Maggie founded Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids of Michigan in October 2003. Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids of Michigan provides wigs & support services at no charge to Michigan children experiencing hair loss.
About 30% of Wigs 4 Kids' children are African American. Maggie gladly accepts all healthy virgin hair for her wigs (virgin hair is hair that has not been processed, colored or chemically treated in any way) because that is what is most natural and makes for the best quality, longest lasting wigs for her very special 'clients’.
She strongly believes all children deserve the confidence and pride that comes from having the hair they want, and natural textured hair is part of that.
Maggie understands how hard it is to find a wigmaker who works with all types of hair.
When she was searching for a wig-making partner, many organizations could not handle the volume or various needs of the children. She had trouble finding a partner who could create different individual looks for the children. That’s why she teamed up with the wig industry’s human hairpiece expert, Jackie Yu.
After more than 40 years producing human hair wigs, the dynamic and passionate Jackie Yu, president of HairArt Inc. in Gardena California, is an expert. He uses all types of hair with caps in the styles and sizes that suit the client as if it were their own real hair.
Jackie knows that many organizations have difficulty finding wig manufacturers who can hand-knot natural Afro hair into a full base. He is proud to work with only the most skilled ventilators who can produce high quality wigs with all hair types, including Afro hair.
As a result of being one of the leading creators of human hair wigs in the U.S., he has developed close relationships with beauty industry insiders and educators. In his free time, Jackie is a grandfather who treasures his time with his four grandchildren.
The idea of a young person being rejected based on his/her hair type while trying to do an altruistic deed for another child breaks Jackie's heart. Along with Maggie, Jackie would like everyone to know that donations of all types of unprocessed hair are a welcome gift. All types of hair can be used to make a wig for any child who would benefit from the confidence and security that hair provides them.