A number of years ago, I met a salon owner named Martino Cartier. He's one hell of a guy. He is a presence. He's loud and full of life and he often sparkles from head to toe with all the bling he owns. He's one of the biggest blessings in my life and I'm truly lucky to know him and be a part of his beautiful charity.
Wigs and Wishes is a beautiful charity that helps grant wigs to women who are going through chemotherapy for free. Martino's second component, wishes, helps grant wishes to children and families that have been touched by cancer.
In October each year A Night of Wigs and Wishes is held. The annual gala is the biggest fundraiser for the charity. It's one of the most beautiful but at the same time heartbreaking evenings that I've ever attended. It's the hardest event to attend every year. You meet kids and women the year before who look so happy to receive a wig or be granted a wish, only to find out the following year that they lost their battle to cancer. It's gut wrenching.
Martino Cartier and I, 2017
Martino has a quote that he says every year at the Annual Night of Wigs and Wishes that has inspired me daily...
"If you don't know how to give, you don't know how to live."
It's as simple as that. Think of all the times that you've given something to others. It can be as simple as when you paid for the person in line behind you at the drive thru, or when you held open a door, or brought a friend a cup of coffee. You never know what person you have influenced or how you could have changed someone's day around. Always be the sunshine, you never know what it can do for someone.
I've had many conversations with Martino over the years about how I always feel guilty during the annual gala because I can't donate more money than just the ticket to get into the gala. He's told me time and time again that it's not about how much money we spend, but the fact that our hearts are big and in the right place. I always wish I could do more for him.
The PAmily at Wigs and Wishes 2019
I first started going to Wigs and Wishes in 2014 when I found out that my girl, Paula Abdul, was going to be there as a special guest. For those of you who don't know me, I'd pretty much follow her anywhere she went. If you want more on that story and our friendship, you can read some of my other blogs. What I didn't expect was that this event was going to change my life.
In 2015, a group of friends and I went to Wigs and Wishes again. Paula was there once again and it was a beautiful night. This was the first year that I attended the dinner portion of the event. It's safe to say that I spent the entire time sobbing into my napkin. I watched Paula grant a wish to give singing lessons to a teenage girl who was dying of cancer. I participated in a beautiful candle ceremony to honor all the lives lost due to cancer (including my grandmothers).
Each year, the night got better and better. In 2017, I first met Avery Moskowitz. Avery was granted a wish during the gala; Martino taking her on an all expense paid trip to Walt Disney World. Avery is also a survivor of childhood cancer. The night that she was told she was going to Disney was the happiest night of her little life.
I've spent years now searching for Avery at the event and every year, she is there and always ready to give me a hug and kiss. Her little face is still just as sweet and innocent as it was all those years ago. She's become like a little sister to me and I will forever look out for her and do all I can to help her in any mission she has in life.
Avery and I, Wigs and Wishes 2019
As the years have rolled on, I've continued to show up to Wigs and Wishes year after year. It's become a date that is forever stamped in my calendar. The gala is something that I look forward to every year and it will always be that way. However, the 2020 gala was the most special of them all.
In 2020, Wigs and Wishes was almost cancelled. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the 10th anniversary celebration of Wigs and Wishes almost never happened. It would have been an absolute shame. Thankfully the team at the Gloucester County Community Church stepped up and allowed Martino and his team to use the church and celebrate a worthy 10 years. The 2020 gala was one of the most beautiful I've ever attended.
It always hits me each year during the gala that my problems are so minimal compared to what these women, children, and families go through when it comes to cancer. Cancer is the one disease that will eventually touch us all personally. We're going to know someone or be someone who has cancer. However to watch the faces of children light up, even if for just one night, this gala is so special.
A Night of Wigs and Wishes 2020 candle lighting ceremony
Also in 2020, Martino found out that the American Cancer Society was discontinuing its free wig program. All wig requests are now sent to Martino and his team at Wigs and Wishes. While it's an incredible thing to be recognized by the American Cancer Society as a resource, it's coming with a big price.
In order to help keep Wigs and Wishes going, please consider donating to this worthy cause. If Wigs and Wishes can get 100,000 people to donate $5.00 each, they can provide wigs and grant wishes during the entire year of 2021 without having to raise anything else. The fundraising drive is called the #5DollHAIRChallenge and I'm always posting about it.
Martino- thank you for stepping up for these women, children, and families. Thank you for sharing your bright light and for shining in our dark world. The world needs more people like you in it. I am blessed and honored to know you and I would do anything I can to help raise the awareness of not only you, but the beauty of Wigs and Wishes. I love you more than words can say.
Signing off,
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