When Lauren Nadan, now a freshman at Emory University, first visited NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center to be treated for a blood disorder, it became evident to her that there was much emotional trauma experienced by children who were losing their hair from cancer. Children always want to “fit in,” a task made even more difficult for a child undergoing chemotherapy. Many of these children feel out of place and lack self-confidence due to losing their hair. Dr. James Bussel of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center said that “losing hair can be emotionally debilitating, especially for children, and wigs are hard to find, hard to match, and don’t always look right.”
Lauren brings her hats to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
With the hope of easing the anxiety of these children, Lauren founded a non-profit organization called Hats for Hope. The goal of the program is to provide trendy hats to kids losing their hair from chemotherapy to help boost their self-esteem and self-image.
Lauren started out by crafting a letter and mailing it to approximately 100 designers and retail companies. “She’s batting like 50 percent, there’s like nobody who doesn’t answer,” Bussel said of Nadan’s letters.
Large numbers of hats were donated from Burberry, Barney’s New York, Solow, Life is Good, Abercrombie & Fitch, the New York Yankees, the New York Jets, the New York Giants, Olympia Sport, J.Crew, Von Dutch, and over 50 other top designer names. With more than 2,000 hats received, valued at over $30,000, the storage room at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center could not compensate. “There just simply wasn’t enough room,” Lauren exclaimed. “Children’s Hospital Boston expressed their interest in the program and we decided to ship extras to their pediatric hematology/oncology department to expand the reach of the program,” Nadan said.
In 2005, at the start of her junior year in high school, Lauren founded the Hats for Hope club. Raising money to purchase hats, and open new hat collections as well as update the old, the Hats for Hope club also coordinated fundraisers such as an Ice Hockey Game, Halloween themed movie night at their local community theatre, a jewelry sale, bi-monthly pizza sales, and a glamour girl party at Sharkey’s Cuts for Kids. Their successes resulted in three more Hats for Hope openings at CT Children’s Medical Center, NYU Medical Center, and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.
“When you see their reactions and their excitement to the hats, it’s a very heartfelt experience and makes me feel good,” Nadan said.
Lauren was recently honored as a distinguished finalist in the 2007 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, which honors young volunteers throughout the country. Last spring she received the American Red Cross Good Samaritan Youth Award as well as the AXA Volunteer award.
Club advisor, Jennifer McVeigh said, “It’s wonderful to see adolescents worry about other people and the world beyond them, and she’s done a great job of that, and she’s got the kids here excited…She’s very selfless about everything.”
Lauren said she hopes to continue the Hats for Hope program at Emory University in hope to further touch the lives of children losing their hair from chemotherapy in the Atlanta community.
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