More than 17,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer yearly because of this growing number organizations like St. Baldricks and many others have joined together to make events for people to show their support. On March 4, held at Marlowe, Battle of the Bald started to raise money and bring awareness for cancer children.
The Battle of the Bald started at 3 p.m. and went on until 7 p.m., and throughout this time people were shaving their heads left and right. The shaving was done by Cosmetology and Spa Academy, they also created glitter tattoos and added tinsel extensions to people’s hair. Tons of people came in to show their support, one of them being Hunter Labas, a biology teacher at Huntley High School. A reason he shaved his head is to raise awareness for cancer children because so many get diagnosed every day.
“Raising awareness and funds for supporting people [with] cancer considering how many of them have been diagnosed on a regular basis,” Labas said. “Not just in school but around the world. It is something we can all get behind.”
At Battle of the Bald, there were plenty of activities for people who were interested in shaving their head and for people who were not. William Johnson, principal of Marlowe, thrived to make the event as interactive as possible, which he accomplished. The event had face painting, writing cards for children with cancer, coloring pages, glitter tattoos, and adding glitter tinsel extensions to people’s hair.
“We are hosting it at Marlowe and our role is to make the event as interactive as possible,” Johnson said. “We are going to have an area for people to make cards for children with cancer and to just try to promote the event to the community.”
So many beautiful stories were told at Battle of the Bald, one of them being Amy Disabato, a shaver at Battle of the Bald. Disabato has been shaving her head for five years for St. Baldrick’s, but today she is shaving for her best friend’s daughter, Lexi, who passed away from Leukemia.
“My best friend’s daughter passed [away] from Leukemia in 2016. Her name was Lexi, so I do it for her,” Disabato said. “This is my fifth year shaving for St. Baldrick’s and my sixth year shaving overall.”
If you do not plan on shaving your head this month, there are many different ways to show support. There are plenty of organizations to donate money to but mainly donate to St. Baldrick’s to find the cure for cancer. Their website is StBaldricks.org, Facebook is @StbaldricksFoudation, Twitter is @StBaldricks, and Instagram is @StBalddricks.