It's hard to say what came first -- the wine or the desire to help women whose looks were altered by illness.
OK, it was the wine.
But the good intentions soon followed, says Leanne Sabo and Margie A. Padavan, who started the WIG Foundation -- which provides custom-made wigs to ill women who have lost their hair and cannot afford well-made wigs -- over a couple of nice glasses.
"This is for women who are struggling," says Sabo, a Lakewood resident whose day job is marketing a Long Beach dental clinic. "There are a lot of women out there struggling financially and emotionally."
To finance wigs, massages and makeovers for women with cancer and other ailments that lead to hair loss, the women sell private-label Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, a syrah-rose blend and other varietals bottled at the Eagle Castle Winery in Paso Robles.
The non-profit located in Parkview Village near Long Beach City College also sells T-shirts and jewelry to raise money for the custom-made wigs.
Women's International Group launched in January and recently helped its first client, Donna Holt, a breast cancer patient from Bellflower who lost her job and health insurance in January and was diagnosed with breast cancer in April.
Part of her right breast was removed. She is gearing up for radiation and chemotherapy and the inevitable loss of her blond hair.
"I wouldn't even be able to afford a wig at this point because I lost my job," Holt, a mother of four, says. "I was really happy when they chose me."
Holt received a free wig from the foundation and a makeover and massage at the Indulgence Salon and Studio C spa across Carson Street from the Long Beach Towne Center.
"I love them. They are so awesome," Holt says of the Wig women. "I have to be honest. I said to myself, 'I am going to loose both my breast and my hair, two of the things that women love.' And then to have to endure the cost of a wig because they are very expensive."
The idea, the founders say, is to give women custom wigs that look more natural than off-the-shelf models. Patients are photographed and measured before their information is sent to a wig maker, Girl on the Go in New York.
"When I put it on my friends though it was my real hair," Holt says. "It makes the transition a little easier so not so many people know you are a cancer patient."
Regaining a natural look can help women whose bodies, self-esteem and dignity have been harmed by cancer and other diseases, Padavan says.
"For a woman that's probably the most important process of their healing," says Padavan, an Anaheim resident who works in film production.
The friends plan to promote WIG at the upcoming Night at the Village, one of the events tied to first lady Maria Shriver's Women's Conference, and in Padavan's upcoming film project, "Hormone Tuesday."
Holt, a separated mother of four, says that the wig and makeover session were the first positive things to follow her surgery and the sadness that come with it.
"It was the first time I really laughed and smiled," she says.
For those who want to taste the wine and help the cause, WIG is on the menu at Ristorante DaVinci near Long Beach Airport.
Information on how to buy bottles and related merchandise is available at www.wigwine.com.
