Four Longwood Students Go Bald for St. Baldrick's

Two Longwood juniors and two seniors are planning to shave their heads in solidarity with children with cancer this semester, participating in fundraising efforts for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. St. Baldrick's is a leading organization in funding childhood cancer research grants, second only to the United States Government."Volunteers sign up and they raise money until they shave their head," said Communication Studies major and St. Baldrick's participant Rachel Cave, "and they shave their head in solidarity with kids who have cancer because they typically lose their hair during treatments." Cave has spearheaded the fundraising here at Longwood and describes it as a way of saying, "We're here for you" and that you are not alone; "It's kind of a big statement."

Each volunteer has a page on the St. Baldrick's website where people can see the shavees, a list of previous donors, the children their money will go to and links to donate. There are details on the children's names, age, history, type of cancer and their personal stories of how they have dealt with cancer in their lives.

Cave is fundraising until she shaves her head at the big St. Baldrick's event on Thurs., March 25 at Boylan Heights in Charlottesville, VA, along with fellow shavee senior Ben Byrnes. Cave has reached almost the halfway mark of her $1,000 goal, with $421.50 in donations; while Byrnes has yet to progress toward his $100 goal.

All hair that is long enough is donated to the Locks of Love charity. Even if boys' hair is not long enough, they are still encouraged to participate, according to Cave.

While Cave and Byrnes will be attending the Boylan Heights event on March 25, the two other Longwood shavees, theatre majors Courtney Edwards and Holly Owens, will not be able to attend because of conflicts. They have decided to hold their own events so they can participate in the fundraising efforts.

"I feel like this was a great cause that crossed my path," said Owens. "I felt like I needed a part in it and that now was the right time in my life to shave my head with children with cancer."

Owens plans to shave her head during this year's Spring Weekend at one of the booths.
"I will be separating my hair into braids, cutting those off and then donating them to Locks of Love," she said.

Edwards, who has participated in cancer fundraising since the age of four with Relay for Life, decided it was "time for something a little more drastic," she said, "That is why this year I am shaving my head." Edwards' grandmother was diagnosed with cancer when she was two years old, spurring her 17-year Relay for Life stint, in which she has volunteered as a team captain.

Edwards' grandmother passed away from a combination of breast cancer and a brain tumor, with the funeral being held on Edwards' 10th birthday. "As a ten-year-old, that is a hard thing to try and understand and even as an adult, it is still difficult," she said. "I want to try and do everything I can to stop this deadly disease and when I heard about St. Baldrick's, it took me a couple of days to commit, but I just couldn't say no."

Fundraising has been a lot more successful for Edwards, having reached her $1,000 goal in two weeks along with an additional $115 to donate. Everyone she knew came together to help her reach her goal. "[I] made a Facebook group and sent out emails to everyone I knew," she said. "I had a good network of friends in Richmond who donated, as well as people from school, work and even way back from my childhood."

Edwards plans to shave her head on "Sunday, April 18th around 8 o'clock at my house and I hope to have a crowd," she said. "I plan on making a few announcements about specific people I am doing this for and maybe read a few personal stories. I want to make it a real big event."

Together all four of the shavees have raised several thousand dollars through their combined fundraising efforts. All of which is leading up to the moment each of them shaves their head in solidarity with children with cancer.

Longwood Theatre assisted in fundraising after several performances of "The Grapes of Wrath" raising $552.36 in all.

Four people, three events, one symbol. It all adds up to show one thing, according to Cave and Owens, "Bald is beautiful.