Martin “Leigh Shannon” Fugate, in and out of drag. (Photos courtesy Ritzy Rags)
ORLANDO | Martin Fugate, who is better known in the community as drag performer Leigh Shannon, is honoring Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October by giving away medical-grade wigs to cancer patients and other individuals who are financially challenged and who have experienced hair loss due to medical issues at his shop “Ritzy Rags Wigs & More” in College Park.
“We have been doing this for 10 years now,” Fugate says. “I do it in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness but also anyone who has any major medical hair loss due to medications, surgeries, genetics and now COVID.”
Fugate, who lost his mother to breast cancer when she was 43, has been working with Adreans Hair Goods, who donates the wigs every year, for a decade now to help patients who cannot afford to get a wig. Fugate says that even though we are a week and a half from the start of the month that he has already given away two wigs.
“There are so many people who cannot afford a medical grade wig, and we really try our best, all year long, when they come in here to make sure that they leave happy with a wig,” Fugate says. “Sometimes if I can’t give it away, we work to get it to them at a discount cost.”
Along with his wigs giveaway, Fugate also wants to spend the month sharing stories of cancer patient’s journeys, raising awareness about cancer research and letting people know the importance of getting proper cancer screenings.
In order to apply for a free wig, applicants can email Fugate at RitzyRagsEmail@aol.com and share their story and be considered.
Fugate says he continues to do this year after year because it is the right thing to do.
“If you give when you can then it will come back to you,” he says. “I’m not a big person of organized religion, I’m a person of faith, but I live by one motto as I’ve gotten over 40ish — you reap what you sow.”
Ritzy Rags has been a part of Orlando’s community over 30 years. Along with medical-grade wigs, Ritzy Rags also sells theatrical makeup, cosmetics, jewelry, accessories and more. After more than three decades in the Mills50 District, Fugate moved his shop to College Park in April 2021. Ritzy Rags is located at 1833 Edgewater Dr. and is open Tuesday-Sunday.
For more information, go to RitzyRags.com.
