For their 13th annual Brave the Shave benefit, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation welcomed shavees old and new.
95.9 The River’s Scott Mackay emceed the event. There was food, raffles, auctions, and of course head shaving throughout. Many supported family, friends, and any child with cancer.
Put on by the Naperville police and fire departments, the benefit brought many together for fundraising, support, and fun.
“Both departments really support this,” said Deputy Chief Jason Arres, “Because again, members of our police and fire families whose children have been affected by this. So it hits home and it’s real for us. So there’s one thing with the bond of being police and fireman it’s we come in and take care of each other.”
The event hit home for many attendees, with remembering lives lost this year and celebrating survivors.
“My son Jacob was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2005, he was only 7 years old when that happened and they had to go through surgeries, actually two surgeries, followed by radiation and then chemotherapy for a whole year. So he’s thankfully been in remission since then but it was very traumatic experience for all of us,” said Kathy Anderson, the co-coordinator of Brave the Shave in Naperville and a Commander for the Naperville Police Department.
Worldwide a child is diagnosed with cancer every 2 minutes. Around $10,000 each year is raised at the Naperville Brave the Shave event for St. Baldrick’s.
“Well I have a lot of hair, and my mom’s like ‘yeah we’re shaving your head!’ and I was like ‘fine I’ll do it.’ So I just started doing it,” said Anthony Ciezadlo, a Brave the Shave participant.
“I could not be more proud of my son and the school for doing this and [how] everybody participated,” said Melissa Jewel, Anthony’s mom. “This is run by the Naperville Police Department and Fire Department. Everyone should get out and participate and raise money and it’s sad that only 4% of funding goes to pediatric cancer so we’re the ones that make a difference.”
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
