Wig making in progress at The Cherian Foundation’s unit in Alinjivakkam
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In a unit in Alinjivakkam, near Chennai, rows of blue trays hold tufts of hair. These then go through a rigorous 14-step process that include sorting, washing, drying, segregation based on colour, texture and length, stitching, and knotting. It takes 10 to 14 days to make one wig. And soon they find their way to cancer warriors all across the country. We are at The Cherian Foundation’s wig making unit, where now a team of 60 has been steadily hand-knotting wigs for the last 10 years.
Chennai-based The Cherian Foundation was started in 2004 by Benjamin Cherian. Over the years, it has been focussing on various segments such as education — classroom infrastructure for Panchayat schools, scholarship for about 60 students, clean drinking water; maintaining the paediatric ward of Mahesh Memorial and refurbishing Primary Health Centres; disaster relief work; basic healthcare in and around the city, screening for diabetes, eye camps, mammogram and pap smear, and cardio camps.
Tufts of hair being dried
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
During these efforts, the members of the foundation came across several persons with cancer. They heard their stories and eventually in 2014 started the Gift Hair and Gift Confidence campaign which donates wigs free of cost to people with cancer.
“Gift Hair and Gift Confidence started with a hair donation drive that we did with Women’s Christian College,” says Sara Benjamin Cherian, trustee, The Cherian Foundation, adding, “In 2017 Adyar Cancer Institute came up with a clinical study. Fifty patients were given wigs, and 50 were not given wigs. The ones who received wigs, responded better to treatment. This was a great morale boost. This study was a great motivation for us that we were on the right track.”
Eventually, patients from other hospitals started enquiring about wig distribution. So, we decided to take this initiative to a pan-India level, she says. In 2018, Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru, came onboard. There was a talk organised by the foundation. Before that they had received only five registrations for hair donation. But after the talk they managed 400 hair donations the same day. “Ever since, progress has been steady, and now there are 25 hospitals under our belt. The list includes Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, MNJ Institute of Oncology, Hyderabad, all the Tata Hospitals, The Gujarat Cancer & Research Institute, Ahmedabad, and Sringeri Sharada Equitas Hospital, Chennai,” says Sara. These hospitals have also been requested to set up wig banks.
In a month, The Cherian Foundation receives around 500 packets of hair donation from all over the world. There is variety: curly, wavy, silky, straight, dark brown, grey, silver, jet black, and these work well as one size, one look may not fit all patients. So, an assortment of wigs is sent to the hospitals.
“It costs ₹8,900 rupees to make a wig. Of which ₹3,000 is borne by the foundation,” says Sara. Each wig has the capacity of being refurbished at least four times. The shelf life is four years. Ideally, a patient requires it only for 12 months. Hospitals send them to the foundation for refurbishment and re-sanitation, where it is done free of cost. While efforts are on to reach further and touch more lives, Sara says, “The Cherian Foundation has made a commitment to provide 10,000 wigs by 2033, and we have already done 1,600.”
For details, log on to cherianfoundation.org
Finished products
Published – October 29, 2025 12:05 pm IST
