One year ago, Michelle Little-Geshel was at the Relay for Life event and was asked if she wanted her salon to be a wig bank. She agreed, wanting to be able to give back to the community but knowing little about what a wig bank is.

One year later, her salon on Sharon Avenue in Houghton — Salon by Michelle — is the only place in the Copper Country that offers this unique service.

“And all of a sudden, now we have this program that no one has ever heard of. They’re in other parts of the state but they weren’t here locally. You could go to Marquette and get it. But now they don’t have to drive two hours. We have it right here for them,” Little-Geshel said.

Little-Geshel provides wigs of most shapes and colors to female cancer patients who are experiencing hair loss due to the effects of chemotherapy. She is officially recognized by the American Cancer Society as well as many doctors in the area.

“The service is actually talked about at many physicians offices locally. They tell their patients and the patients call us. We set up an appointment. They come in and we get them a wig. And it’s absolutely free,” she said.

Little-Geshel works closely with Look Good, Feel Better, a nonprofit organization that assists women with cancer, providing them with things like wigs and makeup kits. She said she began to notice many of her own clients getting sick, mostly from breast cancer, and felt obligated to do what she could to help them.

“People were getting sick and we could help, but we didn’t have any direct way of helping. And now all of the sudden we have a wig bank so they can come in and get a free wig without any obligation to anything. It just feels like we’re serving our clients even better,” she said.

Little-Geshel added that the best way to take advantage of this service is to set up an appointment so that it will be easier to find the wig that you are looking for.