Freudenberg Sealing Technologies employees set an example of giving from the heart – and head – by donating hair for children’s wigs.
Three committed donors at Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, are snipping off their ponytails to provide enough hair for a natural-looking wig for children with cancer or other medical conditions that result in hair loss. This will restore the child’s confidence, bringing joy not only to the kids but the donors themselves.
“I can’t explain the excitement,” says Lisa Korpus, Executive Assistant to the Chief Information Officer at Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies in Plymouth, Michigan. In 2014, she started donating to the charity Children With Hair Loss (CWHL) in Michigan. Whenever she has at least eight inches of hair to spare, her hairdresser gathers it into a ponytail, cuts it off, and mails it to the charity. The wigs are provided free to children in need.
Vasudevan Acharya Pesch, head of operations for the company’s Process Seals Division in Germany, is also dedicated to helping children navigate through difficult time in their lives. He started donating his thick, wavy hair when he learned that Indian hair is especially needed to make wigs for others who need them. “I have always wanted to help others,” says Pesch, who joined the company in 2009. “I decided to grow my hair and donate it directly. That is the minimum that I can do and, frankly speaking, I wish I could do more.”
April Grams, who works in company’s Industrial Services Division in Shakopee, Minn., has donated to the charity Wigs for Kids annually for the past ten years. “Knowing that the hair goes to children in need due to their current medical condition and circumstances really means a lot to me,” she says. And she has clearly inspired others: “My oldest son, age 21, has recently started to donate his hair as well.”
Would they encourage more people to pony up for the cause? “Absolutely,” says Korpus, who has already approached women with attractive long hair and suggested the charity. Pesch agrees: “It’s painless, it will grow back and, most importantly, you bring joy to others.”
