Be Bold! Be Bald! was the mantra for the 2nd annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation Fundraiser hosted by the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative at the UCSC Genomics Institute. We raised more than $12,000 to support research for pediatric cancer! Twenty heads were shorn outside UC Santa Cruz’s Science & Engineering Library at the Science Hill Quad to a cheering crowd for a incredibly worthy cause.
Adding extra excitement:
- Professor Kevin Karplus shaved off his long-established (dare we say iconic?) beard and his eyebrows to become the highest fundraiser amongst all in a mere 48 hours. Go Kevin!
- Professor Mark Akeson shaved and promised $50 donation for each student that also shaved — and with this incentive, several brave students showed up to shave
- Ray from Raymond’s Taco Truck, an institution on campus (muy deliciosa), managed to raise $234, including $61 in coins (!) from his customers (https://www.yelp.com/biz/raymonds-catering-santa-cruz)
- Ellen Kephart, our only woman shavee, not only shaved her beautiful long hair, but also donated it
- Sam Pinsky-Dickson was a walk-up shavee who also donated his hair
- Donovan Beck, this was the 13th time he has shaved for St. Baldrick’s!
- Kian W., our youngest shavee (7 years old!) shaved in support of his cousin. He made a presentation at school and gathered support from classmates, family and friends. We are in awe.
Hats off to our all fundraisers! THANK YOU! You can still donate to them using the links below or or donate to the entire team at once:
Andrew Blair
Arjun Arkal Rao
Arshad Mirza
Brian O’Connor
Christopher Lee
Craig Hunter
Daniel Vargas
Donovan Beck
Edgardo “Ned” LeBlond
Eduardo Coyotzi
Ellen Towle Kephart
James Hahn
Kevin Karplus
Kevin Osborn
Kian W.
Mark Akeson
Rob Currie
Sam Pinsky-Dickson
Steven Loveridge
Vinay Poodari
Organizer Katrina Learned
… And Ray from Raymond’s Food Truck (no online fundraising, but like him on Facebook & Yelp!)
And a HUGE shout out to our volunteer barbers, Angela Mckernan and Dawn Finney from Rustic Hair Studio; Savannah Meyer from Oasis Hair & Skin Care; Jamie Skocko from Vanity Beauty Parlour; and to our volunteer photographer, Laurie Aiello!
Special thanks also to Pacific Cookie Company Santa Cruz for donating super fuel for our event!
Bold and Bald …simply breathtaking beauty……happiness is giving!
The Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative, in partnership with St. Baldrick’s, supports research that uses comparative genomics. Through this research they hope to create more individualized and less toxic methods of treatment for children with cancer. St. Baldrick’s Foundation funds lifesaving research throughout the world, awarding grants that focus on all major types of childhood cancers. One of the major funding events is “going bald.”
According to St. Baldrick’s, “Donors and volunteers have enabled the foundation to fund over $230 million in grants worldwide, allowing the foundation to fund more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. Every grant goes through a rigorous scientific review process, ensuring every dollar has the greatest possible impact for children with cancer.” (https://www.stbaldricks.org/grants)
If you missed this fun event, check out our photos and videos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We look forward to your participation and cheerleading in October, 2018!
If you were there, share your photos and videos to our social channels using the hashtags #StBaldricks #RockTheBald #childhoodcancer #baldselfie, or upload them here. Thank you!
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