1,600 children and adolescents under the age of 20 die from cancer in the United States each year.
Senior Grace Fu took action to help by organizing a shavathon at Parkway South High School.
On March 13 in Gym A, South hosted a fundraiser for cancer research by partnering with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
A handful of teachers and students participated in this fundraiser by shaving their heads and raising money.
One person who participated this year was Freshman Principal Max Mittler.
“Cancer is an insidious disease,” Mittler said. “It affects so many people, especially when you start talking about children, and anything that I can do to help raise money to hopefully end that, I am all for doing.”
Fu agreed and said she organized this fundraiser as an idea to help make South a better place.
“We mostly coordinated with Dr. Wilhelm to get the event started and create the team,” she said. “Then a lot of marketing and contacting like my friends, parents and getting cosmetologists to get people buzz cuts.”
Getting a buzz is intimidating for many. Hair is a reflection of one’s character, and to lose it takes courage.
“I wanted to do Saint Baldrick’s last year, but I was too scared,” junior John Tanurchis said. “So this year, I decided, you know you just got to do something new.”
Several participants had hesitant feelings about shaving but said they were excited to help others and showcase awareness.
“Someone came up to me and said, ‘Where’s your hair?’ and I said, ‘I shaved it all off for cancer awareness’ and he told me, ‘That’s awesome’ and I felt awesome after that,” English teacher Anton Ruiz said.
For some, the choice to shave their head wasn’t just for charity, it was to honor those they knew who had any type of cancer.
“A former student had brain cancer that was not operable,” Mittler said, “She passed away in 2019, and it had been going on for years; that was the year it had gotten really bad.”
In addition to those who shaved their head, others donated directly to the website, contributing to the large final sum.
“Last year we raised $2,300, so this year, I’m hoping to raise $3,000,” Fu said.
This goal was met when they raised $3,051, with one of the shavees, senior Dylan Chromy, raising $600.
By contributing to this fundraiser, whether it was by shaving or not, your part of the journey is bigger than hair loss.
“To lose your hair, you gain a lot more other than hair in the process,” Ruiz said.
