Make me bald...er. St. Baldrick's was dreamt up by a group of business executives in New York City in 2000, who had been observing St. Patrick's Day in the traditional way---pints at their favorite pub, with music and laughter in great supply. They decided to give their celebration a little twist and help young children diagnosed with cancer by recruiting volunteers to have their heads shaved in public in return for pledges of financial support.
It began with a goal of "$17,000 on the 17th of March." Since then it has raised over $50 million for lifesaving research. The primary beneficiary of the event is CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation, the only organization of its kind focused solely on supporting life-saving research and treatment of childhood cancer. Unlike many of these children who face an uncertain future, I am lucky enough to know that my hair will grow back in just a couple of months. So, if a little off the top will help save the life of a child, it's a small price to pay. Being bald is sometimes a choice. Demi Moore's character did it in "G.I. Jane" to be just like the other soldiers, no exceptions. The guys in Blue Man Group ... well that's not so much a removal, but an addition of latex skull caps and mysterious goo. Then, there's Britney Spears, who well, not even she knows what was up with that. My brother shaves his head because it looks cool on Michael Jordan -- and it's an identical look as they're both stock middle-aged white guys who work at a convenience store. Why do I shave my head once again this year? To honor two friends I'd never met but loved as much as my biological family. Randy Amasia simply was game shows -- having appeared on both "Jeopardy!" and "Whew!" (If Regis Philbin's show had been titled 'I Want to Be a Millionaire!," he probably woulda won there as well.) Possibly the smartest man I've ever known, Randy died of throat cancer December 12, 2001. Not a kid, but dying at 44 seems young. Another huge heart and brain belong to Randy's best friend David Zinkin, who died August 13, 2008 after battling what he deemed "a rare form of a rare" lower intestinal cancer. Anyone dealing with cancer is doing it too young. I've done the head shave twice before. And the $600 raised in the past ... just isn't enough while advances keep being made. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the St. Baldrick's Foundation by sponsoring me to shave my head. To make a donation, and learn more about the event and the cause, visit www.StBaldricks.org, click on "Sponsor a Shavee" to submit a donation in my name, or call 888-899-BALD to donate by phone. Visit http://snipurl.com/shavetom2009 to go there directly. Thanks, Thomas Allen Heald --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World News Now Discussion List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/wnndl?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
