Local "Big Wigs" Raise Awareness and Money For Breast Cancer Research

The American Cancer Society estimates nearly 250,000 Americans will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017. That number is too high for nine local “big wigs” who hope to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research and treatment.

It's part of the Susan G. Komen's Big Wig Campaign, which officially kicked off Monday morning. Over the next four weeks, nine local corporate and community leaders will sport a new look. Pink wigs.

That includes Michelle Birch, a district manager with Walgreens.

“I’m pretty sure it’ll stop traffic,” Birch joked.

The natural brunette says it was an easy decision for her to sport pink hair for an entire month.

"My mom is battling cancer as we speak, and I was super excited to support any cause to find a cure for cancer. She’s an amazing rock star for me, and I wanted to make sure I did this for her," she said.

Birch is not alone. Faye Wetzel, owner of Faye's boutique, says breast cancer is a disease that touches everyone. 

"We think we have made a great bunch of strides medically, which we have. But it’s still astounding to me that every minute, two woman are diagnosed with breast cancer and one woman will die of breast cancer every 13 minutes," Wetzel explained.

In an effort to bring those statistics down, the big wigs will try to raise a minimum of $5,000 each.

"The donations go here, to the folks in Wisconsin, to help them with mammograms they can’t afford or for testing," explained Birch.

It's a competition, and whoever raises the most money will be crowned the biggest "Big Wig" by the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

To learn more about the campaign or to donate to one of the big wigs, click here.