St. Baldrick’s raises $6K, awareness for pediatric cancer. Photo by Ethan Pellegrino.
For the sixth year in a row, the University of Rhode Island hosted an event where community members shaved their head to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer in support of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
Faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members were invited to donate money in addition to shaving their heads in the Total Image Hair Salon in the Memorial Union on March 22.
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a nonprofit organization that funds research on childhood cancer across the globe. A committee of URI students have taken charge in collecting donations and shaving participant’s heads with community members.
Ian Kanterman, a survivor of pediatric cancer and URI alumni, brought this event to URI six years ago. His dedication to this event has been continued through students such as Meaghan Fournier, who has been on the St. Baldrick’s committee for two years.
Fournier said that these events are a great opportunity for community members to get involved and come together.
“When I first experienced St. Baldrick’s at URI, I thought it was absolutely amazing to see everybody come together for such a great cause,” she said. “It’s so important to be there for those who need it.”
URI student volunteers organize a majority of the event themselves, but others contribute as well.
Total Image Hair Salon has aided in shaving students’ heads for the event by donating their time and equipment every year. Many of the logistics for this event are managed by Total Image’s owner Brenda Celona and her team of stylists.
In the past, this event has raised more than $15,000 for St. Baldrick’s, with hundreds of participants and volunteers attending the fundraiser. Due to COVID-19, the event looked different from events in the past, yet they were still able to raise money for St. Baldrick’s. URI raised over $6,000 this year, well exceeding the original $2,000 goal. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation uses this money for a variety of pediatric cancer research, sending the donations to whichever programs need it most.
The foundation has also partnered with organizations such as Love Your Melon, which donates money to find a cure for childhood cancer.
Approximately 10 participants shaved their head for the cause in the Memorial Union. St. Baldrick’s at URI also received “a nice handful of virtual submissions, too” according to Fournier, where people submitted videos of them cutting their hair while remaining socially distanced.
Ryan Hecht, a senior at URI and the chief event organizer, has volunteered at the event since his freshman year. He said that there are plenty of ways for community members to get involved with these events at URI even if they do not want to cut their hair.
“Donating money helps the most because that is the goal at the end of the day,” he said. “We want to get the organization as much money as we can so they can fund that research. If [someone] can’t donate, they can share the event, tell their friends about it and promote us on social media.”
Individuals can also form teams who set their own fundraising goals on St. Baldrick’s website. This method of fundraising is often ideal for on-campus groups such as Greek Life or sports teams, according to Hecht.
Donors can create an online profile to receive prizes for their ongoing support to St. Baldrick’s. Frequent donors can receive t-shirts and certificates for different donation milestones.
Fournier and Hecht both noted the importance of student and community involvement in the event every year. They said that they are looking for more students to get involved in any way they can.
“We’re still looking for even more people to help out,” Fournier said. “If students decide it’s something they want to learn about, we would love to hold some meetings to teach them the ropes. We want the group to continue growing.”