Beautiful baldness is returning to Cazenovia in just under three weeks when the St. Baldrick’s fundraiser to battle childhood cancer will occur at Burton Street Elementary School. Last year’s event saw 113 community members shave their heads and raise $48,700 — and organizers Sean and Erin Kate Kelly hope to raise just as much, if not more, this year.
“We’re excited and a little anxious because last year was so successful,” Sean Kelly said. “We’re off to a good start with less than a month to go; we just hope it becomes something sustainable.”
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a national volunteer-driven charity that allows anyone to host or create a head-shaving event to raise money for the organization. Participants collect pledges from family and friends and agree to have their heads shaved as a visible, outward sign of the fight against all types of cancer. The money goes to St. Baldrick’s, but typically gets allocated to medical facilities local to an event.
In 2014, St. Baldrick’s saw more than 57,000 people “brave the shave” at more than 1,300 events, raising more than $38 million, according to the organization. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation has given more than $13 million to hospitals and research facilities in New York state, including more than $300,000 to institutions in the Syracuse area.
This year’s Cazenovia event, scheduled for Sunday, March 22, will have some similarities and some differences from 2014, Kelly said.
The guest of honor this year will again be Nathaniel Henry, a 7-year-old first-grade student at Burton Street Elementary School who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in March 2012 and is currently undergoing treatment.
“We loved how the whole community came out and supported the event [last year]. For such a small town to raise all they did for St. Baldrick’s was amazing to be a part of and watch,” said James Henry, Nathaniel’s father. “Doing it a second year just means so much to Nathaniel. He wants to help find better treatments and cures for all the future kids, so they don’t go through what he did.”
But March 22 will not only be in Nathaniel’s honor, it will also be a celebration for him — on May 5, after three-and-a-half years of undergoing chemotherapy treatments, Nathaniel will finish his very last treatment.
“We couldn’t be more proud of how strong and far along Nathaniel has come,” his father said. “We are hoping to return to a somewhat normal life after he’s done. We will still have to go to clinic every month for the next two years to make sure it doesn’t come back, and to make sure no side effects from the chemo show up … but we have hope, prayers, and determination that he will pull threw just fine!”
Also similar this year will be the offering of a bake sale during the event, which is being coordinated once again by Cazenovia High School Assistant Principal Susan Vickers, and the presence of dj Chris Denton, who will provide music.
New to the event this year, first of all, is the location. Last year’s event was held at the Cazenovia American Legion, which led to some parking issues for participants because of the high turnout. Kelly said they are also hoping to find one or more food sponsors to have something other than only sweets for sale and consumption during the event.
There will also be some game booths available during the event to help keep younger children occupied while their family members are getting their heads shaved, Kelly said.
“We’re going to try to do some more things so it becomes a day of activity, not just a time to stand around watching people get their heads shaved,” he said.
The Cazenovia St. Baldrick’s fundraiser will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 22, at Burton Street Elementary in the front gym. It has a goal of $50,000, of which more than $6,000 has already been raised by 65 participants as of press time.
“The fact that we raised nearly $50,000 last year still seems absolutely unbelievable,” Kelly said. “We just hope we’ll get something similar this year,” he said.
For more information about the Cazenovia St. Baldrick’s fundraiser, to sign up to shave your head or donate to an individual or team who is shaving, visit stbaldricks.org/events/mypage/11021/2015, or contact Sean Kelly at [email protected] or 655-9564.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
