St. Baldrick's continues to be hair-razing success

Nearly three weeks have passed since 13 Aurora police officers shaved their heads for the nonprofit St. Baldrick's Foundation, but the donations continue to grow at a rate rivaling the hair on the heads of many of the officers.

Detective and event organizer Dave Adams said nearly $23,000 already has been raised, more than doubling the goal he set for the March 30 effort. The event's Web site, he said, will be operational until 2009 and will continue to accept donations until that time.

The initiative was started in 2000 in New York City by a group of friends who wanted to raise money to help children with cancer. Since treatments often cause patients' hair to fall out, they decided to shave their hair in return for donations.

Being of Irish descent, they started a tradition of holding the fundraiser near St. Patrick's Day.

This year the 13 officers and 37 resident "shavees" honored 4-year-old acute lymphoblastic leukemia patient Luke Behrends of Adams' hometown of Minooka, and 13-year-old osteosarcoma patient Nicole Diehl of Aurora.

Having the chance to tell them about the event's success has been the highlight of the entire program, Adams said.

"To get a hold of them both and tell them it was a success and that we doubled what we did last year was so gratifying to me," he said. "They both said it means a lot to them that people they would likely never meet would go to such a great length to help them beat cancer. It's really a moving thing."

In addition to the "shavees," Adams said several women signed up to have 12 inches of their hair cut and donated to "Locks of Love," a public, nonprofit organization established in 1997 that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss.

"We're already planning a huge blowout event next year since this one was so great," Adams said. "We're going to keep at it and keep fighting for these kids."

According to the foundation's Web site, 498 shaving events have taken place thus far in 2008, raising about $10.2 million to support cancer research and fellowships.

The Aurora event's Web site, featuring before and after photos of many of the "shavees," can be found at www.stbaldricks.org/events/event_info.html?EventKey=2008-200.