Brave the Shave raises funds for childhood cancer research

By Adam Hocking

Editor

MARSHFIELD — Marshfield fought childhood cancer through solidarity, symbolism, and a healthy dose of fundraising on Sunday, March 6, as Brave the Shave was held at the Eagle’s Club. Individuals volunteered to have their heads shaved in return for donations to St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a childhood cancer research charity.

Left to right: Father and son Brave the Shave as Katie Niemerg shaves Scott Boushon’’s head, and Alisa Barlow shaves John Boushon’’s head.

In total the event raised just over $23,000 for St. Baldrick’s with 45 brave souls willing to shave their heads, according to Dave Krause, an organizer of the event.

Mark Adler was one of the “shavees,” and his reason for braving the shave was deeply personal. His daughter Abby is a survivor of retinoblastoma and is now a healthy 11-year-old.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Adler said of the turnout for the event. “Even when I pulled up, how full the parking lot was at 2 o’clock right when it started, I was pretty impressed by that.”

Adler added that his coworkers at Marshfield Clinic Information Services were tremendous in their support of the event.

Contributors could donate online or at the event itself, but those were not the only two venues where the fight against childhood cancer was being waged. In fact, children themselves were responsible for a portion of the fundraising.

Lori Pahl’s 4-year-old kindergarten class at Tiny Tiger Intergenerational Center worked for weeks to bring in toys that would be raffled off at the event and raise additional funds for St. Baldrick’s. The idea was spurred by Tiny Tiger employee Lesley Brown, who had a nephew endure cancer.

“We’ve gone from making one basket (full of toys) into making three huge baskets,” Brown said, describing the enthusiasm the

Lori Pahl’’s four-year-old-kindergarten class poses in front of the baskets of toys they donated, which were raffled off at the St. Baldrick’’s fundraiser on Sunday, March 6.

students and their parents showed in donating toys for the event.

“Anything with kids, I just want to help, so for me it was just trying to do something to help,” Pahl said.

Brown said prior to Sunday’s event she had donated her hair five times, so shaving it once more was no big deal.

“It’s only hair. It’ll grow back,” Brown said.

For more information on St. Baldrick’s Foundation, visit stbaldricks.org.