National Volunteer Week: The Heart Behind Every Workshop

Stories of compassion, connection, and confidence from the LGFB volunteer community

Every Look Good Feel Better® workshop is powered by more than beauty expertise; it’s powered by people. Volunteers who show up with compassion, connection, and a shared belief that confidence, community and caring support can change lives. This National Volunteer Week, we’re highlighting just a few of those voices and the moments that stay with them long after a workshop ends.

For many volunteers, the journey starts with something deeply personal. For Demi, a JCPenney salon professional, it began with her mother’s cancer experience. “I saw first-hand what chemo did to her physical and mental health and how she felt about herself,” she shares. “Being part of a program that helps [people] feel better during this journey is very near and dear to my heart.” Kim Jarrett, a virtual workshop facilitator, found Look Good Feel Better at a similar moment in her own life. “My mother was going through cancer right as I became an esthetician,” she says. “It was perfect timing and a perfect fit.”

What keeps volunteers coming back are the moments of connection they witness in every workshop. Demi recalls a mother and daughter who attended together, both newly diagnosed. “You didn’t feel fear, you felt love,” she says. “They showed up with strength, positivity and I remember watching them in the mirror, side by side, helping each other, and thinking, this is what resilience looks like.” Kim has seen that same sense of community form, even in a virtual space. “At one session, a younger woman walked in, and the group immediately rallied around her,” she shares. “They sort of circled the wagons.”

There is a shift that happens in every workshop. Participants often arrive unsure, not knowing what to expect or how much it might help. By the end, something changes. “They leave realizing that it helped,” Kim says. “At my in-person classes, they always wanted pictures at the end. No one wanted them at the beginning.” For Demi, that shift is visible in small, but powerful moments. “It might start as a small smile… a moment of ‘I still see myself,’” she says. That renewed confidence doesn’t just stay in the workshop, it carries forward, helping participants feel more like themselves again.

For those considering getting involved, the message is simple. “Do it,” Demi says. “You’re giving someone a moment of relief, confidence, and a reminder of their strength.” Kim agrees. “You think you’re doing it for them, but it will change you too.”

Look Good Feel Better® is built on connection, from in-person workshops in local communities to virtual sessions that bring people together from across the country. No matter the setting, the impact is the same: helping people facing cancer feel like themselves again. And during National Volunteer Week, we’re grateful for the volunteers who make that possible every single day.