Over 243,000 People GET BALD to Conquer Kids’ Cancer with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation
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Worldwide, every 3 minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer. In the U.S. it is the leading cause of death by disease among children; 1 in 5 children diagnosed will not survive. Yet childhood cancer accounts for less than 4% of all cancer research funding allotted by the federal government.
On March 17, 2000, three executives turned their industry’s St. Patrick’s Day party into a head-shaving event to benefit kids with cancer. Their 19 ‘shavee’ recruits planned to raise $17,000; instead, they raised over $104,000!
The movement quickly grew into the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood cancer research, and today the St. Baldrick’s Foundation funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. Since 2000, the Foundation has hosted more than 5,500 signature head-shaving events, shaving more than 243,000 heads – including over 24,000 women – in 28 countries and 50 U.S. states. Thanks to generous friends, colleagues and family, these shavees have raised over $149 million for life-saving research, and each is a walking billboard for the cause!
With only 4% of all federal cancer research funding dedicated to pediatric cancer, St. Baldrick’s volunteers take great pride in knowing that the money they raise bridges the gap of this dire need for funding. Dedicated to the cause, they are making a powerful impact in the lives of children with cancer: a new cure for neuroblastoma; improved cure rate for most common type of childhood cancer; raising cure rate from 20% to 70% for rare type of childhood leukemia, and much more.
At St. Baldrick’s head-shaving events, people of all ages and from all walks of life discover a power they didn’t know they had: to give hope and the promise of a future to the bravest kids in the world.
“I am grateful for St. Baldrick’s…you give us an ACTION to DO as we feel helpless at the feet of our children’s cancer. I love a shaved head – it is a statement of strength!” said Susan Heard, St. Baldrick’s Foundation Special Events Coordinator and mother who lost her 10-year-old son to cancer.
Each event represents the passion, style and creative vision of the volunteers who pour their soul into putting on an event to remember. Some take place at schools, colleges, community centers or hospitals; others at restaurants, pubs, comedy clubs, corporate offices, mountain tops, and more. They vary in size from a small group of friends, to hundreds of people.
A St. Baldrick’s event, itself, is nothing less than powerful. The space fills with people getting bald and making a stand against childhood cancer, alongside families touched by cancer who share their stories, softly and strongly over the microphone. Feelings of empowerment and excitement, tears and laughter touch everyone in attendance. It’s hard not to be changed when people come together to do something that’s bigger than themselves.
“Being a kid with a life-threatening illness is one of the most helpless feelings,” said Sammi Robertson, childhood cancer survivor and St. Baldrick’s female shavee. “St. Baldrick’s gave me a chance to fight back and say, ‘This time, I choose to shave my head. And this time, it’ll be helping other kids like me.’”
More About This Charity
Region
West
Category
Most Creative Fundraiser by a Charity
Name
St. Baldrick’s Foundation
Mission
The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.
Impact
- This Achievement raised more than $149 million
- This charity raised more than $30 million in the past year
- More than 5,500 head-shaving events
- More than 243,000 shavees (including more than 24,000 women)
- More than 440 childhood cancer research grants funded to over 200 institutions for laboratory and clinical research and to help make clinical trials available
Works In
U.S., Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, Canada, China, Grenada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and more.
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