Liza's Lids
Liza's Lids
Sharing strength, support and encouragement
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
Wheaton High Students bring Style, and Confidence, to fight against Breast Cancer.
Wheaton High Students bring Style, and Confidence, to fight against Breast Cancer.
Finished work donated to Liza’s Lids
Peggy McEwan/The Gazette - Lisa’s Lids founder Liza Takounakis-Zarou, fifth from right, stands with Wheaton High School students Zakia Anna, Janee Massie, Bria Graham, Marketta Lewis, Sambo Kanneh and Emani Davis. Visit the website @ Liza's Lids.org.
By Peggy McEwan, Published: April 3, 2013
It’s called a sports academy, but it includes much more. Like wig-making.
Students at the Wheaton High School — a pilot after-school program offered by the Montgomery County Department -learned to make wigs. Then they donated 12 to Liza's Lids, a local nonprofit group that supplies head coverings to patients suffering hair loss from cancer treatment.
The hair design class was taught by Patricia Prather, who also is a licensed cosmetologist. The 10 girls enrolled in the class — which met weekly from October 2012 through the end of March 2013— we learned about more than hair…… “We talked about self-esteem, empowerment, and giving back to the community,”Prather said.
Marketta Lewis, a senior, said she had a passion for styling hair when she joined the program. Her finished wig was long and dark. "I wanted it to stand out from everybody else’s,” Lewis said. “I was actually proud of myself when I saw the finished product".
Liza Takounakis-Zarou, the founder of Liza’s Lids, is a Wheaton resident, a 1986 graduate of Wheaton High and a Breast Cancer Survivor.
She launched her nonprofit organization called Liza’s Lids in October 2012. Takounakis went to the last class on March 21, 2013 to accept the wigs and tell the students about why cancer patients need head coverings.
“When a woman is going through treatment, she still has to go out, to work, to the store, to take her children places,” Takounakis-Zarou said. “Wigs are in high demand.” Liza’s Lids donates hats, scarves and wigs to Montgomery County residents undergoing Radiation and Chemotherapy Cancer Treatment.
The group works with the “Look Good Feel Better” program, which aims to improve the self-esteem and quality of life of women in cancer treatment.
“This is my first large group of [donated] wigs,” Takounakis-Zarou said. “There is a great variety in length, style and modern color. They did a really nice job.”