FAIRFIELD BAY — What began as a gift to Mary Philips’ sister is now a volunteer-run nonprofit that gives to thousands.
Care Cap Connections, a Fairfield Bay-based charity that creates caps for those who are losing or have lost hair through chemotherapy, marks its 11th year this month, which is also National Cancer Research Month.
In 2005, Philips’ sister was diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer and was given four to six months to live. While receiving treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, she was told she’d lose her hair, and she found hats in a gift shop for $25.
“Every time she would buy a different hat for herself, I would try to make her one like it,” said Philips, Care Caps director.
Philips’ sister eventually began giving the caps away to other chemo patients. Each cap had a card in it that included a phone number and the sentence “We care.” Soon, people started to notice Philips’ service to others.
“I was making a lot of caps, and I was at a quilt retreat, and one of my friends said, ‘We should give you one day a month and help you out,’” Philips said.
Early on, everyone involved in making the caps brought their own machines, but now Philips supplies 19 machines. Once word of the sewing group spread, more volunteers became interested, leading to Philips holding sew-ins across the state so that more volunteers could be involved.
Care Caps makes hats in three sizes: small for children, medium for teens and those with smaller heads, and large for an average-size adult woman, Philips said.
Sew-ins are held on a regular basis in cities including Fairfield Bay, Greenbrier, Hot Springs, Jacksonville and Little Rock, and the sessions are typically held at churches of all denominations.
“It’s really interesting because when I come to a group, I just assume that everyone goes to that church, but that’s not so.”
Care Caps also holds sew-ins once or twice a year in other towns, such as Calico Rock and Clinton.
“I have all my groups separated in my computer, and I send them reminders a week ahead,” Philips said. “I have dedicated volunteers. These groups have become like family, and it’s really neat to watch because they care for each other.”
Some sew-ins have at least 35 volunteers attend, and up to 200 caps or more are made in one session. Philips said she has no idea how many Care Caps volunteers there are.
“We quit counting at 2,000,” she said.
Many Care Caps volunteers come from local churches, but Philips has also partnered with female inmates at the Southeast Arkansas Community Corrections Center in Pine Bluff.
Since its beginnings, Care Caps has supplied more than 71,880 caps to patients across the country and has gone through 36 miles of fabric, Philips said.
Philips purchases the fabric from Marshall Dry Goods Wholesale in Batesville, but fabric is often donated, too. Philips makes sure all fabric goes to use, even if she can’t use it for Care Caps sew-ins. For instance, thin white fabric is given to those who make burial dresses for premature babies; double-knit fabric goes to groups that make blankets for the
homeless.
“We don’t waste anything,” she said.
Philips’ husband, Ingram, is in charge of the shipping and distribution of caps. Caps are sent to about 25 cancer centers across the country, and volunteers are also encouraged to share caps.
“It was my husband’s idea for every single one of our volunteers to carry a cap,” she said. “When they see someone when they look like they’re bald, they’ll go up to that person and say, ‘Hey, can I ask you a question? Are you going through chemo, and would you like a cap? They’re free.’ Once the volunteers get into that, it’s their project.”
The donation-based nonprofit even stays afloat through tough times. Last year, Care Caps was low on money. After the organization sent a message out to each group of volunteers, money soon came flowing in.
“It’s amazing to see a nonprofit do well when the economy is not too good,” Philips said.
Philips said spring through summer is Care Caps’ busiest time of year, and there will be a sew-in Thursday at Church of the Nazarene in Greenbrier and one May 23 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Family Home in Little Rock.
“I get to work with the neatest people,” Philips said. “I have such fun with the people because they’re all so nice and all giving people. It’s just a wonderful job to have, and I don’t get paid a dime.”
For a schedule of upcoming sew-ins and more information, visit www.carecaps.org.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.