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| Teenager
Anthony Leanna founded Heavenly Hats
in 2001 to bring happiness to cancer
patients across the country. |
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LITTLE BOY HAS BIG IDEAS AND IMPORTANT REASON
FOR COLLECTING HATS
Anthony Leanna, of Suamico, Wis., was only
8 years old when he visited his ailing grandmother
in the hospital. It was there that he noticed
that many of the patients had lost their
hair, including a little boy. “I decided
I was going to collect hats for cancer patients
to cheer them up,” said Leanna.
“Anthony started on a small scale
in the spring of 2001. With a little help
from his mother, Dee, 39, and father, Glen,
44, he set out two plastic buckets to collect
hats in front of stores in Suamico.
“After a couple of weeks, the buckets
were full,” says Anthony, now 14 and
a freshman at Bay Port High School in Green
Bay, Wis. “Then I contacted the hospital
my grandma had been, and others as well,
and asked if they could use these brand
new hats for cancer patients.”
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The response was so enthusiastic that Anthony
kept his bucket collection going and looked for
ways to expand his efforts. “I wanted to
collect and distribute hats to people across the
United States,” he says. His solution was
to form the nonprofit Heavenly Hats Foundation
and set up a website to allow online visitors
a place to offer donations or request hats.
One such visitor was Julie Wheeler, 41, a preschool
teacher in San Carlos, Calif., who underwent treatment
for breast cancer. Wheeler was thrilled when a
box of five hats—all in pink, as she had
asked for—arrived at her house less than
a week later.
“I felt very loved and cared for by someone
I don’t even know,” Wheeler says.
“I wear them all the time since I lost all
my hair. Anthony even sent a sleeping cap to keep
my head warm at night. He’s an angel who
touches so many lives.”
Thanks to donations from individuals and hat
companies, Heavenly Hats has distributed more
than 70,000 hats to cancer patients in about 200
hospitals across the nation.
Anthony’s mother Dee has long since left
her job as an insurance agent to volunteer with
the foundation, where she and her son put in 60
to 70 hours a week. “We sort through every
hat donated, seal them in plastic bags and pack
the boxes for shipping.”
With the help of five to 10 volunteers, Anthony
and his mother ship about 2,000 hats a month from
an 800-square-foot facility donated by a local
company. Despite the high volume, the Leannas
try to meet every special request, like a letter
from a mother who wrote: “My little girl
has lost her hair, and she could use a sun hat
so she can go outside this summer.” They
provided her with summertime hats.
Anthony says that seeing all of the requests
are what drives him to keep working. “Cancer
patients need these hats, and we get hundreds
of letters, calls and e-mails from people saying
thanks and how much it means to them,” says
Anthony, who hopes to one day become a pediatric
physiotherapist or pharmacist.
Anthony’s foundation has brought him a
lot of public attention, such as appearances on
the Today Show and Good Morning America, plus
numerous awards.”
Visit www.heavenlyhats.com
or call (920) 434-4151, ext. 1400, to learn more.
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