Tickets Now on Sale: ebeauty.com/strides-of-strength
Every Monday through Thursday, volunteers unpack wig donations at the EBeauty Community Center for Cancer Support in Stevensville. On a recent morning, Kelly gently lifted a box onto the sorting table and found more than hair and lace. Tucked between the curls were envelopes addressed the same way: “Dear Sister.” Each note is a lifeline from one woman to another — a small, human bridge across a moment that can feel impossibly wide.
One letter comes from Allyson, who signs with quiet confidence: “With love and appreciation for your journey.” In her letters she offers the gritty truths and the steadying words that helped her through: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” She reminds the next woman that she is strong enough, not alone, and that a wig can return a piece of everyday life — the “normal and beautiful and ‘me’” feeling — until it’s no longer needed.
Another note arrives from a 20‑year survivor who decided it was time to pass along her wigs with a wink of humor: “Just think — you never have a bad hair day with a wig.” What she calls a “glitch in the road” becomes, in her hands, a gift for someone else’s smoother path.
And then there is Carol’s story. She dropped off her wigs with a note of thanks to EBeauty for two free wigs she received at exactly the moment when hair loss felt like one more hill too steep to climb. She and her daughter stood in front of the mirror and — even through the heaviness of treatment — they found room for giggles. Later, Carol did what so many women in this community do: she paid it forward. Those wigs came back to EBeauty with her note and her hope that another woman would find the same small joy in the mirror.
These letters are not side stories. They are the story — the living thread of EBeauty’s mission. Headquartered on Kent Island, EBeauty refurbishes donated wigs and provides them free of charge to women in treatment across the country. Every wig is cleaned, sanitized, and restyled by volunteer cosmetologists and partner schools, then matched to a woman who needs it through hospital programs and nationwide mailings. The hair may be synthetic or human; the magic is the human part — the note that says, “You’ve got this.”
“It will all be alright in the end. If it’s not alright, it’s not the end.” — Allyson, survivor and donor
On Sunday, October 19, EBeauty invites the Shore to step into that story at the Strides of Strength Cancer Walk. When we walk, we’re not just logging miles; we’re carrying letters. We’re carrying Allyson’s grit, a survivor’s humor, Carol’s giggles with her daughter — and the promise that community can make the hardest moments feel a little more bearable. The walk helps fund free wigs and the support work that surrounds them, so that a woman starting treatment can open a box and find more than a wig.
Because here, women don’t walk alone.
How to Get Involved
•Local support — Breakfast Club: Local cancer survivors, thrivers and newly diagnosed and their circle of support are invited to the Breakfast Club: Island Hours on September 11 at 5 PM in at 480 Main Street, Suite 104, Stevensville MD. Beginning in October, Breakfast Club moves back to meeting on Saturday mornings — check our Calendar of Events to join us.
•Join the Walk (Oct. 19): Lace up and bring your family and friends. Proceeds support free wigs and local support programs for women in treatment. (Details and registration at ebeauty.com.)
•Donate a Wig: Clean out a closet, change a life. EBeauty refurbishes and places gently used wigs with women who need them now.
•Volunteer: From wig refurbishment to event help, there’s a place for every set of hands.
•Share a Note: Tuck a few words of hope into your donation. Your “Dear Sister” may be exactly what someone needs to read today.
