Hi everyone! My name is Jessica Ekstrom and I'm a junior at North Carolina State University. Here's a little about me and Headbands of Hope...


Right before my 20th birthday in the summer of 2011, I did an internship at the Make a Wish Foundation of Central and Western North Carolina.

 


Everyday, I got to wake up and grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses. I took day trips to visit the wish kids at their houses and bring them their favorite toys. We received hundreds of letters from wish children that said we changed their lives; little did they know, they were changing mine.


One day, I was pulling my hair back in a ponytail and thought about the hundreds of girls I encountered that lose their hair to cancer. I saw how much losing their hair had an impact on their self-esteem and confidence level.




I thought about the thousands of girls around the world losing their hair to chemotherapy. Being a young girl presents many struggles with self-esteem already and losing their hair as a result of a life-threatening illness is traumatic.Not only do they have to face the risk of losing their lives, they feel that they lose a part of their feminine identity. 


Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, send me an email from the contact page, and stay connected! 
Remember, we're in this together.

Let's spread hope in all girls and conquer kids' cancer... one headband at a time!