Long before she teamed up with the hair and beauty industry to bring hope to those in need, back before she dedicated her life to crusading against cancer, Mary Jenkins was herself a cancer patient in need. Diagnosed with stage 3 (almost stage 4) breast cancer in 2006, Jenkins quickly discovered that some of the biggest challenges one faces in the fight against cancer are often those that receive the least amount of publicity.

“You hear all the time about how difficult chemo can be on your body and the psychological impact of hair loss, but you rarely hear about the challenges people face just to keep their day-to-day life moving in the right direction, especially financially,” said Jenkins. “Cancer takes a toll on your ability to work, your ability to function. In many ways, your life stops. But your bills don’t. Housing, food, heating, car payments, those things don’t just stop because you have cancer.” 

Running out of money as bills mounted and chemo took its toll, Jenkins initially turned to two well-known cancer foundations in search of help. While they empathized with her situation, they were simply not set up to offer support for it. 

“The bigger foundations raise millions of dollars for cancer research and to help people get access to treatments they couldn’t otherwise afford, and that’s incredible, but so many cancer patients need help just getting from one day to the next, and there just wasn’t any organization offering that kind of ground-level financial support,” said Jenkins. “Do I want them to get closer to finding a cure? Of course, I do! But I also need to turn my heat on in the winter.”

Jenkins eventually sought and received financial help from her church and its sympathetic pastor. It was then the lightbulb went on. 

“That was a blessing for me, but I couldn’t help but think about everybody else,” Jenkins said. “I told my pastor that someone needs to step up and create a group that helps with this need. He looked at me and said, ‘Why not you?’ At first, I thought he did not just say that, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that not only can I do this, I have to do this.” 

Her decision was fully affirmed during a subsequent hospital visit for her next round of chemo. 

“There was a couple next to me in the treatment room, they were spending everything they had just to get to and from treatments, their money was running out, and they told me they were going to have to sleep in their car that night,” recalls Jenkins. “And I just said no way, that’s not happening. Right then, I knew I would do this for the rest of my life.”

Thus, what is today the Cancer Option Collaborative (The COC) was born. Jenkins started small, with grassroots efforts to provide small donations to help select breast cancer patients with small day-to-day living costs. 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and breast cancer is initially where Jenkins planned to focus. But the stark reality of cancer led her in another direction. 

“Someone reached out in need of help and said she had cervical cancer,” said Jenkins. “I blurted out something like ‘Oh sorry, you have the wrong type of cancer.’ As if there’s a right type of cancer. As soon as the words came out of my mouth I realized how ridiculous they sounded. We changed our focus right then and there and opened it up to all types of cancer.” 

Not long after that, the American Cancer Society began referring patients to The COC, and suddenly Jenkins was getting applications for aid from around the world. 

“We needed to figure out a way to turn fundraising into overdrive,” said Jenkins. 

As is often the case when people are in need, the hair and beauty industry was ready to help. By chance, Jenkins met and shared her story with a celebrity barber who told her that if she could find a way to connect her cause to the hair and beauty industry, the industry would respond in a major way – because it always does. He invited Jenkins to speak at an industry conference in Atlanta, where the response was immediate and overwhelming. 

“You could just see it in everyone’s eyes,” said Jenkins. “The people in this industry couldn’t wait to jump in and help.” 

From the seeds of that experience came what is today Hairstyles and Beauty for Hope, a dedicated fundraising arm of The COC. Not long after that initial event, the world-famous Bronner Bros. Show offered Jenkins a booth at one of their shows and invited her to the main stage to share her message. 

“The next thing I knew, I was being invited to all the big shows,” said Jenkins. “The whole industry was just so supportive and enthusiastic. This is an industry that’s just so compassionate and wants to give back. It’s an amazing group of people.”

Today, the Hairstyles and Beauty for Hope team travels the country setting up its booth, building awareness, and raising funds at some of the self-care industry’s most important trade shows (see the end of this story for a list of upcoming shows), with professionals from all walks of the hair and beauty world coming by to sign the group’s trademark banner in a show of support. Jenkins now coordinates an annual fundraising event, “Raising the Bar: Barber, Beauty and Wellness Expo,” to benefit the organization. 

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2024 and to show its appreciation for the tireless work Jenkins puts in on behalf of cancer patients everywhere, Boulevard is proud to join with so many others in the self-care industry and donate to Hairstyles and Beauty for Hope as part of its ongoing Causes that Matter initiative. 

If you can’t make it to see Jenkins in person at an upcoming event, please join Boulevard in supporting Hairstyles and Beauty for Hope by texting “GiveHope” to 707070 and responding to the text received or by donating online.  

Upcoming events 

2024 

November 20 - Philadelphia, PA
MLB Philly Tradeshow 

2025 

January 18-20, '25 - Chicago, IL
Midwest Tradeshow Chicago 

February 8-10 - Atlanta, GA
Bronner Bros Show

February 23-24 - Anaheim, CA
Premiere Anaheim 

March 23-25 - New York, NY
IBS New York

April 5-7 - Chicago, IL
America's Beauty Show by Cosmetologists Chicago 

May 18-19 - Champion, PA
The Pennsylvania Beauty Pro’s Expo

May 31 - June 2 - Orlando, FL
Premiere Orlando

June 21-23 - Las Vegas, NV
IBS - Las Vegas

July TBA - Jacksonville, FL
Jax Elite Expo

August TBA - Location TBA
Bronner Bros Show

September 14-15 - Columbus, OH
Premiere Columbus

September 28-29 - San Antonio, TX
Premiere San Antonio

October TBA - Columbus, OH
Raising the Bar Barber, Beauty and Wellness Expo (RTB Expo)