Ellie’s Hats donates hats to children battling cancer and much more. In the spring of 2013 a little girl named Ellie was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. By the time she started kindergarten in the fall, she had lost most of her hair and was wearing hats to school every day. Her PE teacher Jay Coakley noticed how much Ellie’s liked to wear fun hats to cover her bald head and decided to get her some hats for Christmas. His friends and family heard what Jay was doing for this little girl and they wanted to help. Before Christmas Jay had collected 140 hats. He decided to donate 130 of the hats to a Holiday Party that Ellie and other cancer patients were going to. Hearing how much the children liked picking out a hat Jay decided to start Ellie’s Hats.

Ellie’s Hats mission is to brighten the day of a child who is battling cancer. We do this by sending a package of hats and other items for the child battling cancer and their siblings. We include hats for the siblings too because often they feel left out. We have sent over 1,700 special packages to children across the country. For families in Northern Virginia we are able to do more than send them hats. We provide financial support and do whatever we can do to make these kids’ days a little brighter and we help the families in other ways.