A nurse makes wigs for kids with cancer, and they've got a special twist.

By: Evan Porter

When you're a kid, nothing beats dressing up like your favorite character.

For me, it was the Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz" (pretending to be rusted in place is surprisingly fun) or Raphael from the Ninja Turtles. For lots of kids, though, the absolute pinnacle of dress-up is getting decked out like a Disney Princess.

This one simple fact led Holly Christensen and Bree Hitchcock to a wonderful idea for those kids who really need some cheering up.

The Magic Yarn Project "creates soft and beautiful yarn wigs for little warriors who are bravely battling cancer."

That's according to the GoFundMe page set up by the two women. But, wow, is that an understatement.

These aren't just any wigs. They're wigs that make kids feel like their favorite princess, whether that's Elsa of "Frozen" fame or Ariel from "The Little Mermaid." 

And they should win the award for Cutest Things Ever in an unprecedented landslide.

Holly, a former cancer nurse, first made a Rapunzel wig for a friend's daughter going through chemotherapy. Soon, everyone she knew wanted one.

And the coolest part? These wigs aren't just adorable; they're practical.

"The chemotherapy leaves their skin very tender and sensitive," Holly told ABC News.

Magic Yarn wigs are crocheted with super-soft material, with a cozy beanie underneath- a big improvement on the scratchy undersides found on most wigs.

What's not to love? 

Holly and Bee are raising money for the supplies needed to make even more princess wigs, which they give away for free.

They're even trying to launch Magic yarn as a genuine nonprofit to amplify their reach. And good thing, too- over 10,000 children under the age of 15 will be diagnosed with cancer this year.

That's a lot of brave kids who need people like Holly and Bree in their corner.

"To bring a little bit of magic into such a difficult time in their life is so rewarding," Holly says. "It's almost equally been so rewarding and magical to meet peole who want to help."

This tiny piece of paper can keep fruits and vegetables fresh 2 to 4 times longer

This small sheet of paper could help remove one of the biggest obstacles to getting fresh food to those who need it most.

It's called FreshPaper, and according to inventor Kavita Shukla, it preserves fruit and vegetables two to four times longer than conventional storage methods.

Shukla came up with the idea when she was 12 years old while visiting her grandmother in India.

Shukla as a toddler with her grandmother in India.


After accidentally drinking a glass of water from her grandmother's tap despite having been warned before to drink only purified water, Shukla began to fear she would get sick.

"My grandmother didn't have a lot in her kitchen, and she came back with this murky brown mixture, which was kind of like a spiced tea," Shukla said.

Shukla drank the tea and didn't get sick. And while there is no way to know if the tea really helped or not, it gave her an idea: Certain spices have antimicrobial and antifungal properties.


Could these same spices help prevent food from going bad?

Years later, while Shukla was working on a $300 budget in her apartment, FreshPaper was born. It's small, paper sleeve infused with some of the same spices in her grandmother's tea mixture. It can go in any container that stores produce, looks similiar to a dryer sheet, and is reusable.

"When I first developed it, I really had people like my grandmother in mind," she said.


Despite the fact that millions of people don't have enough to eat, the world wastes a surprising amount of food.

According to a 2014 National Geographic report, up to one-third of all food produced for human consumption worldwide is wasted or lost. The problem is especially acute in areas of the world without adequate refrigeration infrastructure, which causes food to spoil. India alone has to scrap between 30% and 40% of its fruits and vegetables.

"People still go hungry every single day because of all these inefficiences in food distribution," Shukla said.

It's a problem that is familiar to many American families as well.

"Mostly when we are talking to people who are living paycheck to paycheck, the food-purchasing decisions they're making are entirely based on what they can afford, and sometimes it's not a good economic choice to buy fresh fruits and vegetables," Shukla said. The quicker food spoils, the less cost-effective it can be for a struggling family.


Shukla and a partner first began selling FreshPaper at a farmers market in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

According to Shukla, they were shipping the product all over the U.S. and to over 30 countries worldwide within a year. As of Oct. 29, 2015, FreshPaper boasted an average 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon. 

"This is an amazing product. It does exactly what it says and keeps berries fresh much longer," writes one reviewer.

For Shukla, however, bringing the product to market is just the first step. Other products can preserve perishable produce after all, but many are non-biodegradable or require refrigeration. Shukla hopes to leverage FreshPaper's simplicity, accessibility, and environmental friendliness into a truly global social enterprise that can help bring much-needed aid to hungry people around the globe.

A cheap, effective method of preserving perishable food could be a Godsend for people who don't have consistent access to refrigeration.

Shukla is currently partner with food banks and NGOs to make the technology accessible to families in need.

In the meantime, FreshPaper is a finalist for the chance to win a Super Bowl ad and is actively seeking votes. Shukla hopes this will increase visibilty of the product and help start a discussion around food waste.

That discussion comes not a moment too soon.

For the many families around the world who struggle to put food on the table, any help is much needed and long overdue.

"FreshPaper's creative solution to cutting food waste is needed in light of the fact that about 40 percent of our hard-working farmers' produce never reaches our stomachs," Dylan Menguy, spokesperson for the Washington D.C.- based Capital Area Food Bank said by e-mail." As technology evolves, we are glad to see creative solutions to this heartbreaking problem."

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