Bald for St. Baldricks…Iona College Students Get a “Haircut” for Charity!

Iona Students, Greg Gerner, Andrew Hastings and Tom Pennington will shave their heads for children’s cancer

Hair is a big deal to people.  We spend lots of money on it.  Styling, cutting, coloring, perming, straightening…you name it.  And, we are not just taking about women, here.  Men are just as vain when it comes to hair, and there are all sorts of “remedies” on the market to combat baldness.  So, when a bunch of 20-something college students decide to shave their heads, you know something is up.

The ST. BALDRICK’S FOUNDATION, according to their mission statement,  is a charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.  According to their history, “On March 17, 2000, reinsurance executives John Bender, Tim Kenny and Enda McDonnell turned their industry’s St. Patrick’s Day party into a head-shaving event to benefit kids with cancer. Their 20 “shavee” recruits planned to raise “$17,000 on the 17th.” Instead, they raised over $104,000!”  Ever since, the movement has become an epidemic of sorts…and is now one of the world’s largest volunteer-driven fundraising charities raising money for research to combat children’s cancers.

This year, a few Iona College students have taken up the challenge.  On March 22, 2012, three brothers in the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity are joining together as a team, and will be rooting each other on, as they shave their heads in support of St. Baldrick’s.  According to Andrew Hastings there are 6 people signed up as “Shavees” with others as fundraisers.  Hastings decided to jump on board for this event after talking to fellow student, Kara Nowakowski, who has already raised over $4,000.00!  The overall goal for the Iona Students is $9,000.00, and if Nowakowski is any example, they will surpass that goal.  So far, Hastings has raised $380 in funds, and is working on much more.  You can visit his donation page (donation page HERE) and add some funds toward his goal.  As he says “hair grows back, right?  Why not get paid to get a haircut” with funds that will help kids with cancer?  “Iona does it every year, and I plan on doing it now”.

Kara Nowakowki, shaving her head for St. Baldrick’s