St. Baldricks Partners

For the third year in a row, I had the privilege to participate in the St. Baldrick's Foundation event at Napper Tandy's Irish Pub as the leader of the Striving for More Shave team.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.

I have been attending this event for four years. My nephew, Matthew, who is a firefighter, shaves his head every year and honors Colleen. The first year he shaved was the year that she was diagnosed with cancer. It was quite an honor and an emotional experience for me. I wanted Colleen to be able to attend the event but given the fact that she was in a wheel chair and immune suppressed, it wasn't possible. Therefore, I attended on her behalf.

I was determined to track down all of the random strangers that were honoring her that day and personally thank them because it touched me so much that they would do this for my daughter. Although I did not find them all, I found several and as a result made a few friends that I know I will have for life. That day was emotionally charged. I was meant to be there, I was meant to discover that Collin, the DJ that we always hired for every community event was the emcee, I was meant to share with him that the little girl he watched grow up by the Hawthorne Pool side, and who he watched participate in his hoola hoop contests now had terminal cancer. He broke into tears on the stage in front of everyone. That day, the future of the St. Baldrick's event at Napper Tandy's would never be the same.

The next year, I put a team together, raising over $10,000 and at the same time increasing a little bit of awareness for our then new nonprofit. "What's most important is a cure but until there is a cure, we need to be Striving for More than a Cure and care for these children's emotional needs." I said to the room full of people just before my head was shaved.

As my hair slowly grew out, I discovered that having hair that looked like I had cancer myself was a powerful tool. People were nice to me. They thought I was sick. People would ask me if I had cancer and start talking to me about their own cancer stories and give me an opportunity to tell them Colleen's story. Then there is always the fact that I am a volunteer and it is much more economical not to have to go to the hairdresser every six weeks for the cut and color. So now the buzzed head is just part of my persona. The recognizable woman in town that runs the childhood cancer nonprofit.

In the three years that we have participated in the St. Baldrick's event, the Striving for More team has raised over $58,000. None of that money goes to Striving for More. It all goes to St. Baldrick's, which is good. If Colleen and the other children in this world never got cancer, then they wouldn't need the emotional support to get them through all that crap that goes along with it. Wow, wouldn't that be cool.

Until then, they do need emotional support and sadly they aren't getting it.

From my heart,

~ Diane