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After her chemotherapy, Meg Baker's straight hair came back in tight ringlets. Cancer changes you, she said — everybody says so, and in more ways than just hair.

"It's not like, ‘Oh, I was so lucky to have cancer,'" said Baker of Kensington, who is in recovery from breast cancer. "But it can in some ways be a good thing. It forces you to be in the here and now and really appreciate what you have."

And also what you don't — an ideology that has inspired Baker to continue being socially active. A year and a half after her diagnosis, Baker is back in full swing raising money for A Wider Circle, a charity that provides basic furniture and home goods to people on the brink of poverty. It was what she was doing right before her diagnosis, as well — generosity is one of the things about Baker that cancer didn't change.

It was only May 2008 when Baker, undiagnosed, was preparing for a big CD release concert for her first album of original piano compositions, "Red Jacket Road," at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Kensington.

"I wanted it to be a benefit," Baker said. "I wanted it to be a big community thing, make a big splash."

Then came more of a thud.

"Just before the concert, I found out I had breast cancer," Baker said. "But actually, it was a good thing to have the concert because it was positive momentum; it kept me from going into a slump and getting depressed about it."

Right as she was trying to rally around the community with the benefit concert, her community rallied around Baker. Her husband became "a knight in shining armor," she said. A group of friends, led by Jenny Smith of Kensington, pitched in to help with the benefit, tacking up posters and issuing press releases.

"She was trying to finalize the details of it from the waiting room at the oncologist's office and the MRI, and I said, ‘Meg, you've got to just hand some of this over to me,'" Smith said.

"She's ... about as close as you can come to being a saint, and would never in a million years ask anybody for help," Smith said.

The benefit was a success, raising about $2,000 for A Wider Circle that was then matched by an anonymous donor.

Through chemotherapy, mastectomies and reconstruction, Baker was forced to sideline her own charitable efforts, accepting instead the help of friends who prepared meals for her family and made sure her kids had a fun summer, taking them to camp and activities.

"I felt ... carried," Baker said. "People told me I had paid it forward."

Upon completing chemotherapy last October, however, Baker still thought there were dues to pay, and quickly got back involved with raising money for A Wider Circle. She has hosted a series of "Chari-Teas" at her house, inviting guests over to listen to her perform on the piano and harp and make a donation to the organization in exchange for the music and finger sandwiches. She created Thanksgiving grab-baskets full of things like candles, tea and her CD to sell to raise money for the charity, and is doing the same thing for Christmas. She also plans a "Re-gifting/Recycling Communi-Tea" after the holidays for people to donate the gifts that may have missed the mark. Somewhere though all of that, Baker and her sister, a fellow breast cancer survivor, raised $10,000 in the 39.3-mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

Ruth Silverstein of Kensington, who originally got Baker involved with A Wider Circle, said Baker dives in to every endeavor quietly, never letting on how much effort is actually required.

"Whatever she does, she takes it to the highest level and makes it happen, and that's what she did right from the get go," Silverstein said. "She is so unassuming and she gets so much done, and you never know how long it takes."

Baker just said getting back involved with the charity after her battle with cancer is "the right thing to do."

"It's not about me, it's just kind of about leveling the playing field, because I didn't do anything to earn where I am," she said.

-Meg Baker will host a "Re-gifting/Recycling Communi-Tea" from 1 to 3 p.m. on Jan. 1 at A Wider Circle, 9159-C Brookville Road in Silver Spring. The event is free, but participants are encouraged to bring contributions in the form of re-gifted items as well as new or gently used household items. Financial gifts are also welcome.

-Baker is also selling holiday gift baskets including her CD "Red Jacket Road." To get one, contact her through her Web site, www.megbaker.com. Proceeds will benefit A Wider Circle.

-Finally, Baker will also be the featured performer at 1 p.m. Monday at Strathmore's Afternoon Tea at the Strathmore Mansion, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. The cost for that event is $21 for a light lunch and tea. That concert, however, is unrelated to A Wider Circle.