About dozens of people shaved their heads and even cut their facial Sunday to raise money so that they can support research into pediatric cancer.
Every year, Pat Schrager organizes the St. Baldrick’s Foundation event at the 84th Street Pub & Grille in Byron Township.
Schrager said, “We got involved because a friend of our daughter had leukemia at 5.” She won her battle against cancer and is now 23 years of age.
He said, “When we moved back to West Michigan, there wasn’t an event, so we started one.”
The first event was held in 2013; however, the national St. Baldrick’s Foundation was invented 10 years ago.
Schrager explained, “So three guys got together … wanted to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer research. They wanted to raise $17,000 on St. Patrick’s Day in 2000.”
Volunteers agree to give up their hair while donors willing to pay to sponsor each haircut.
Steven Strauss, which was the first to get his head shaved for the cause, said “It’s just a lot of fun. It started shaving in bars like this in New York City, then we realized, though, the impact that it made.”
Since inception, the foundation has raised millions of dollars for research associated with childhood cancer.
Researchers at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids were grateful for the money, which allows them to invent new treatments and implement them to patients.
Schrager said, “In 1978, childhood cancer was a death sentence. Today, four out of five are saved and hopefully that just continues to get better.”
“That’s the great marketing edge of this thing. People are like, ‘What happened?’ And you talk about it and then they start thinking about doing it,” said Strauss. In 2018, the St. Baldrick’s event raised nearly $115,000. The event’s organizers believe that this year they would raise $120,000.
