St. Baldrick's

Shaving heads to save lives St. Baldrick’S goeS virtual

By Jill Nossa

Every year for the past 17 years, Rockville Centre community members have looked forward to the annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation head-shaving event to raise money for pediatric cancer research. While the public gathering was canceled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers can still participate by visiting salons of their choice over the next few months and donating to the organization, or simply donating online. Typically held each year on the same day as the St. Patrick’s Day parade, the fundraiser brings together people of all ages who choose to shave their heads or chop their ponytails as a symbol of solidarity with children who lose their hair to cancer treatments. Participants can now choose a time when they feel comfortable visiting a hair salon, and participate virtually. Rockville Centre resident John Bender founded St. Baldrick’s in 1999 with two friends, Tim Kenny and Enda McDonnell, as part of their mission to give back to society. On St. Patrick’s Day 2000, they shaved a few heads to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer, and the event caught on. This would have been its 17th year held at St. Agnes Parish Center in Rockville Centre. According to Bender, the goal of the foundation is to fill the gap in funding allocated by the United States government to pediatric cancer research; only 4 percent of the government’s cancer research funding goes specifically to pediatric cancer research. To date, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an independent nonprofit, has allocated more than $282 million in research grants to 376 institutions in 29 countries. Some local hospitals currently receiving St. Baldrick’s research grants include Winthrop, Cohen Children’s Medical Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, Mt. Sinai, Weill Cornell, NYU Langone, Montefiore, Maimonides and Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. The RVC St. Baldrick’s fundraiser honors several local children each year who have battled or are currently battling childhood cancer. This year, Kimiko Schroder, the niece of Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray, as well as Mary Ruchalski, Gabriella Pellicani and Anthony Petrocelli, who all died within the last two years, are being remembered. Donations can be made at stbaldricks.org, through the St. Agnes Parish Center page.