'Care Cap Connections' Celebrates Milestone
By: Jay Bir, KARK 4 News
Updated: March 11, 2013
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- What started as one woman helping out her sister has now turned into a full-blown operation.
The Care Cap Connections were out in full force on Monday.
Not only was it one of the monthly gatherings of the group, but they were also celebrating a big milestone: 50,000 caps made.
"We were really excited when we got to 1,200 caps, and we really thought we were something," says founder and director of Care Cap Connections Mary Philips.
Philips started making the caps back in 2006, when her sister was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer.
"She was at MD Anderson and they said, 'OK, this is going to take your hair,' and so she started looking for caps," Philips says. "Caps are expensive and hard to find."
And when other patients saw her sister's caps, they raved about them and wanted one too.
Thus, Care Cap Connections was born, and Philips has seen her operation grow exponentially.
"I never thought it would do this, no! No, never in my wildest dreams," she says. "You know, I was just making caps for my sister."
Even after her sister passed away in 2007, Mary Philips kept her caps coming.
She hasn't had many problems recruiting volunteers, either, as 80 percent of the group either had a family member with cancer or had cancer themselves, and Janell Barkley has had it twice.
"When I had cancer, I was lucky enough I didn't lose my hair, but I didn't know that this existed, so I'm glad I found it," Barkley says.
These caps go all over the country, from Vanderbilt's Ingram Cancer Center to the Huntsman Cancer Center in Salt Lake City, to right here in Arkansas.
These caps will find a head to call home, and they hope to celebrate 100,000 in due time, as long as they keep growing.
Care Cap Connections has about eight groups in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana that meet once a month.
If you'd like to help, click here to visit their website.
The Care Cap Connections were out in full force on Monday.
Not only was it one of the monthly gatherings of the group, but they were also celebrating a big milestone: 50,000 caps made.
"We were really excited when we got to 1,200 caps, and we really thought we were something," says founder and director of Care Cap Connections Mary Philips.
Philips started making the caps back in 2006, when her sister was diagnosed with stage four liver cancer.
"She was at MD Anderson and they said, 'OK, this is going to take your hair,' and so she started looking for caps," Philips says. "Caps are expensive and hard to find."
And when other patients saw her sister's caps, they raved about them and wanted one too.
Thus, Care Cap Connections was born, and Philips has seen her operation grow exponentially.
"I never thought it would do this, no! No, never in my wildest dreams," she says. "You know, I was just making caps for my sister."
Even after her sister passed away in 2007, Mary Philips kept her caps coming.
She hasn't had many problems recruiting volunteers, either, as 80 percent of the group either had a family member with cancer or had cancer themselves, and Janell Barkley has had it twice.
"When I had cancer, I was lucky enough I didn't lose my hair, but I didn't know that this existed, so I'm glad I found it," Barkley says.
These caps go all over the country, from Vanderbilt's Ingram Cancer Center to the Huntsman Cancer Center in Salt Lake City, to right here in Arkansas.
These caps will find a head to call home, and they hope to celebrate 100,000 in due time, as long as they keep growing.
Care Cap Connections has about eight groups in Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana that meet once a month.
If you'd like to help, click here to visit their website.
