St. Baldrick's fund-razors to fight cancer succeed in suburbs
With a bag of freshly cut hair in her lap and tears dripping down her face, a newly bald Erin Falsey grabbed a small piece of paper and a microphone in her shaky hands and smiled.
The 14-year-old announced to hundreds of her classmates in Schaumburg High School's gym Thursday what they had accomplished — together.
The school raised more than $103,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a charity committed to funding research for a cure to various types of childhood cancer through head-shaving events.
The events are meant not only to be fundraisers but also to give participants an opportunity to stand in solidarity with children who are fighting cancer.
St. Baldrick's events of various sizes are going on throughout the area this month, as the foundation was first formed in March 2000 by a group of friends who turned a St. Patrick's Day party into a head-shaving event to raise “$17,000 on the 17th” for kids with cancer.
Since then, according to the organization's website, an estimated 224,000 people — including more than 21,000 women — have shaved their heads at St. Baldrick's events and raised more than $131 million.
The website states there are 238 St. Baldrick's events scheduled in Illinois for 2012. But that number could continue to grow, as the organization keeps gaining popularity nationwide and events are more frequently being scheduled throughout the year instead of just in March.
Schaumburg High was one of more than 60 Chicago and suburban schools — including Prospect, Elk Grove, Naperville North, Streamwood, West Aurora, Lakes Community, Hersey, Woodstock and West Leyden high schools — that hosted St. Baldrick's Day events this month as part of the FOX News School Challenge.
But Schaumburg shines, leading the suburban pack with the most money raised and more than 170 participants. Any students or staff members who raised $25 received a free shave during the school's lunch hours. Students who raised more than $500 or staff members who raised more than $1,000 were shaved during a pep assembly Thursday afternoon.
The smiles beaming from the faces of all the students and teachers who got a buzz cut at the rally, along with the hugs and laughter they shared with friends and dozens of family members afterward, demonstrated St. Baldrick's ability to bring people together.
Green feather earrings and green makeup were style accessories among the girls, and many cried and laughed simultaneously as their hair was cut Thursday. The boys seemed a little more at ease, although some lost chin-length hair, resulting in expressions of shock when they looked in the mirror.
Another 50 girls donated their long strands of hair to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.
Erin Falsey said the reason behind shaving her head is that like many other people at her school and throughout the world, she was personally affected by childhood cancer. Her older sister Colette, now 19 and cancer-free, was diagnosed with leukemia in fifth grade.
“(I did this) not only for her but for all the kids that are battling cancer because my family went through what they are going through,” she said, crying, as Colette put an arm around her. Falsey was one of Schaumburg's top fundraisers, bringing in $3,300.
Other students said they decided to participate because a grandparent or other family member had died from cancer or because they wanted children with cancer to know they're not alone.
This is only the second year the school has participated in St. Baldrick's. Junior John Knudson was at the first event in 2010 after his relapse of Ewing sarcoma. Now a cancer-free freshman at the University of Illinois, he received a standing ovation and loud cheers from the crowd at Thursday's event.
Knudson looks back at the school's first fundraiser with a lot of appreciation, and expressed amazement at the turnout this year.
“I wanted something to get my mind off (cancer),” he said of how he had talked with people at the school about holding a St. Baldrick's event. At the time, he was debating not getting a stem cell transplant, but was motivated to do so after the 2010 fundraiser. “It helped me a lot.”