On Wednesday, Dec. 9, Blue Valley High students stopped by Panera Bread on 159th street to raise money for Wigs Out.

Wigs Out is a Blue Valley High club that aims to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation through monthly fundraising activities. Money collected supports the research of several types of cancer instead of primarily focusing on patient care.

Junior Kristin Rupp is one club’s organizers,  along with junior Trinity Mayer. They began Wigs Out because of the personal connections they both have to cancer. Teach Kathryn Sanfle, a cancer patient herself, acts as the club’s leader.

“I’m really close with Kathryn Sanfle and Trinity’s mom is actually a survivor [of cancer],” Rupp said. “We decided it’d be awesome to start a group together when so many women in our lives are affected by it.”

The juniors also wanted to create a way to collect donations year-round for cancer research. 

“There wasn’t a club for us besides Relay For Life,” Rupp said. 

Wigs Out hosted their first large-scale fundraiser at Panera. The biggest difficulty the club faced was getting the word out.

“We had to make sure that everybody in the group was promoting,” Rupp said. “We definitely used social media to our advantage since we weren’t in school to hang up flyers and spread the word by mouth.”

Donations for Wigs Out were collected in-person, curbside, and through app ordering. Though they will have to wait to hear back on their fundraising total, Rupp is optimistic about the outcome of the fundraiser and proud of what Wigs Out accomplished.

“When I went in to pick up, it was crazy,” Rupp said. “There was definitely a good turnout.”

Wigs Out has big fundraising plans for the future when social distancing restrictions are lifted. They hope to find ways to get as many people involved as possible.

“We want to do an annual haircut [fundraiser],” Rupp said. “You could cut off your hair and donate it yourself to make wigs for people affected by cancer.”

Until then, Rupp hopes that Wigs Out will continue to find ways to contribute to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. They aim to do all they can to support the people in their lives, like Kathryn Sanfle, who currently battle cancer.

“Making a difference in the research is really what we want to do,” Rupp said. “Once I’m gone from the school, I just hope that they can keep making a big impact.”

To donate to Wigs Out, visit https://give.bcrf.org/fundraiser/3078691