St. Baldrick’s

• April 27, 2015
• Hawaii

 

Walking into my first St. Baldrick’s fundraising event for childhood cancer research I didn’t know what to expect.  I just knew by the end of it I’d be bald.  It’s one of those things that sounds awesome until you realize,  oh wait,  I’m actually doing this.  This is happening.  This was a great idea about a month ago when it was WAY in the future.  Now I’m about to go all Uncle Fester upstairs and there’s nothing I can do to stop this shave train.  Then I walked into the St. Baldrick’s registration room at Dave and Buster’s and everything changed.  

 

 

Shaved heads with big smiles on their faces.  Laughter.  People meeting new friends and talking about why they’re donating to the cause.  Framed photos of children and stories being shared of their lives.  Tears.  Memories.  A community of support.  I caught a glimpse of the bigger picture and was instantly excited to be a small part of it all.

 

 

Cancer is cruel.  It’s merciless.  It comes like a thief in the night and steals joy and life.  This is why we fight back.  To gather in solidarity and take a stand against it.  Children who are diagnosed with cancer don’t have the choice to lose their hair,  so we shave and stand with them.  To let them know they’re not alone and hope that someday all forms of cancer will have a cure.  In an earlier post I shared about my own bout with cancer.  One doctor’s visit can change the course of a family’s life forever.

 

 

Upstairs on the roof top it’s not just a fundraiser;  it’s a shave party.  A guitar player wails Jimmy Hendrix.  People drink pints and cheer on participants.  Teams line up to get their hair real estate downsized.  A stage of volunteer barbers waves in the next shavee and hair hits the ground to the sound of applause.

 

 Live music by Jason Leahi

 

It’s a party with a purpose:  it’s all about finding a cure.  My friend Patrick Tyrrell,  whose team New Research 5 I was on,  was there to honor his daughter Haley who passed away last year.  I met a women in line who shaved her head for her son whose cancer is in remission.  We met Joshua,  who shaved in honor of his son Ryan who passed away in 2011.  Ryan loved music.  Joshua and his wife Anita started an organization called Ryan’s Light to provide music therapy and musical instruments to pediatric oncology patients in Hawaii. ( www.ryanslight.org )

 

 

And of course it was hard to miss St. Baldrick’s MC and Think Fast Improv team member Aaron Pughes, aka Animal:

 

 

It was an awesome afternoon and I definitely hope to do it again.  For now I’ll enjoy my freshly air-conditioned head,  knowing I was part of something bigger than myself that’s helping to save lives.

Someday, the cumulative efforts of St. Baldrick’s shavers around the world will bring about the end of children’s cancer…and we will all know we made the ultimate difference.

Carl Vallianatos. St. Baldrick’s VEO & Shavee.

 

 

Please remind me to apply sunscreen,

Anthony

• Bald
• Brave the Shave
• Cancer Research
• Hawaii
• St. Baldrick's