Cazenovia — Beautiful baldness is returning to Cazenovia for the third consecutive year next month, when the St. Baldrick’s head-shaving fundraiser to battle childhood cancer takes place at Burton Street Elementary School. Last year’s event saw more than 100 community members shave their heads and raise more than $50,000 — a feat organizer Sean Kelly said he hopes can be repeated this year.
“Someone said to me last year that this could be something that Cazenovia becomes known for, and that’s always been my goal, to be something the community embraces,” Kelly said. “It’s such a positive event, and of course it’s for a good cause; it’s something that just makes people feel good.”
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 to help the organization fight childhood cancer. 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 2015, St. Baldrick’s saw more than 50,000 shave their heads at 1,300 events nationwide and raise more than $36 million, according to the organization.
This year’s St. Baldrick’s event in Cazenovia will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 13, at Burton Street Elementary School. Like last year, the event will include different game booths for kids, a bake sale, food and drinks and head/hair painting.
So far, 19 participants have signed up and $170 has been raised, according to the event website.
One new addition to the Cazenovia St. Baldrick’s fundraiser this year will be the presence of green plastic donation cups in various businesses around town, Kelly said. “We’ll take spare change, anything else; it will all get thrown into the pot — it’s just an easy way to donate without going online,” he said.
Kelly said he is also hoping to encourage more organizations and businesses in town to get involved in the fundraiser, form teams and challenge each other to raise the most money. He said participating businesses and organizations can hang signs up at the event and have links posted on the event website.
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/11021/2016, or contact Sean Kelly at [email protected].
