High school student launches chemo cap charity

CARMEL VALLEY — Ronda’s Closet, 3860 Valley Centre Drive, in the Plaza Carmel Shopping Center, will be holding a fundraiser from 3 to 7 p.m. Sept. 22 on behalf of Tete-a-Tete Hats, a charity launched by Canyon Crest Academy sophomore Taylor DeVries.
The store will serve wine and hors d’oeuvres and a portion of all proceeds will benefit DeVries efforts with Tete-a-Tete Hats.
“Born with life-threatening food allergies, she has a unique sensitivity to others who are dealing with difficult situations,” her mother Shelley Gerber said. “Everyone around her describes Taylor as a kind, gentle, and cheerful person.”
Taylor and her mother are knitters and “after accompanying me to a doctor’s appointment and seeing the people that were getting chemotherapy (I was there for a different reason), Taylor had an idea,” her mom said. “She felt bad that the chemo recipients did not have attractive head coverings and decided that she would design and make some hats to donate. As soon as she took her hats to the doctor’s office, they were gone. From that point forward, she has been making hats for others. She has recruited others to help her keep up with the high demand in our community and is currently looking to expand with even more knitters.”
Taylor has been donating handmade chemo caps (and other types of hats) to various organizations and individuals locally and nationally for about a year. All of hats are hand knit by Taylor or one of her knitters and given free of charge to people or organizations in need.
“Take a moment to check out Taylor’s blog to see what she is doing,” Gerber said. Most recently, she donated 51 hats to 46 Mommas Shave for the Brave on Sept. 7. Taylor has only been tracking her donations since January 2010. Since that time, she has donated 713 handmade hats.
Visit Taylor’s blog at: http://tete-a-tete-hats.blogspot.com/ for more information and photos.