Nina, the little girl who raises funds to buy wigs for women with cancer

In their kindergarten backpacks, boys and girls carry a snack and some of their favorite toys. Except for little Nina, 3 and a half years old, who carries a toy along with her dolls. glass jar to collect funds to be used to purchase wigs to donate to cancer patients.

56 euros and some change, the amount that the little girl collected, encouraged and involved by her mother Paola, project manager atRomagna Scientific Institute for the Study and Treatment of Tumors in Meldola, near Forlì, part of the larger complex of the Romagna Oncology Institute.

It doesn't take much to teach children about solidarity, and that's exactly what Paola did when she decided to teach Nina the value of helping others and raise awareness about such a terrible disease. Nina's inspiration came when she was drawn to a large glass jar with labels, the kind her mother uses for fundraisers for cancer care projects.
He gets curious and decides to do something, despite his three years: he brings his big jar to his friends' parties, and collects a sum of money. Derisory, perhaps, but very symbolic.

This prompted the Romagna Oncology Institute to make this sweet little girl's gesture public, hoping that adults will understand the value of crowdfunding for the initiatives the institute itself has launched.

ALSO READ: Bathrooms, showers, a barbershop, and a laundromat: the Vatican's initiatives for the homeless.

DONATE HAIR TO CHILDREN WITH CANCER

This isn't the first time that children have taught adults the value of solidarity: from Viareggio, in fact, comes another very sweet story. The protagonist is Alba, only ten years old, who decided to do a gesture that moves and makes you thinkBrowsing the internet with her mother, the little girl stumbles upon a curious story on the social network Facebook, which tells of some American kids, both boys and girls, who let their hair grow considerably, even having to endure ridicule because of their flowing hair. But it's not a fad, nor a whim: in reality, they explain, it's a way to collect hair real for making wigs for boys and girls, for adolescents and all cancer patients who were losing hair due to chemotherapy.

So Alba, deeply touched by that gesture, decided to take pen and paper and write a letter to an unknown friend, expressing her desire to emulate those generous boys and girls from overseas.

She donates her braid to children with cancer.

In the letter, Alba declares her decision to cut the long braid she'd been growing for four years to help a friend whose hair has sadly been lost to illness. The text of the letter is touching: "My name is Alba, and I cut my hair into a bob just for you. I live in Viareggio: would you like to be my pen pal? I hope you get well soon!!!"

The news of Alba's gesture reached the news thanks to the daily newspaper the Tyrrhenian Sea, who interviewed the mother of the little girl, who attends fifth grade in the beautiful Tuscan town.

Having decided to comply with Alba's request, she contacted an association that collects hair for those who no longer have any due to illness: with the Smile project and the "wig bankATRI Onlus, based in Rome, was born from the intuition of oncologists who know well how important it is for cancer patients to continue to look as healthy and beautiful as possible even during the dark phases of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Anyone who wants to send their hair can do so by contacting them through social media and the website. Or they can write a little letter, just like Alba did.

(Cover image taken from the newspaper The Corriere della Sera)

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