24 Don’t be surprised if you see some students walking around totally bald in the coming weeks. And if you’re wondering what happened, they had their heads shaved for a good cause, not a fashion statement. Hair littered the gym floor of Goodman on April 2 as students came out to support the St. Baldrick’s foundation. The foundation is a volunteer driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long, healthy lives. This is the second year that St. Baldrick’s has been at Bethel. Last year was the first and senior Cristine Bakke made it happen. “I wanted to shave my head for this cause and go to another event somewhere, but then I found out there weren’t any events in the area, said Bakke. "The closest was Chicago, and so something in my heart just said you know, make your own event and see how many people show up. If you and two other people shave then so be it, but we ended up with 46.” Those 46 all came from Bethel. Bakke said that they don’t advertise to the surrounding area mainly because of the parking issues at Bethel, but she said she would one day like to branch out and see how many from the community would come out and support St.Baldrick’s.
“I am graduating but my roommate said she is thinking about doing this in two years so I am hoping we can keep passing the torch on,” said Bakke. Last year, they raised a little under $4000. Bakke did not know the total amount this year yet because the cash donations normally come in later and they have to count them by hand, but she was pretty positive that people would donate. At least ten girls shaved their heads for St. Baldrick’s. Freshman Emily Carithers not only shaved her head but donated seventeen inches of her hair to the charity. “It’s a good cause and I have hair to give so why not give it away?” said Carithers With her generous donation of hair she also hopes to make a couple wigs.
Sophomore Anna McTaggart was also one of the girls who had her head shaved.
“God’s really put children with cancer on my heart this school year, and then when St Baldrick’s came here it really just opened my eyes that there’s a lot more that I can do to raise awareness,” said McTaggart. “I hope people ask me why I am bald, and I will be able to explain to them that I am raising awareness for St. Baldrick’s and also on the different side of it that beauty doesn’t come from the outside it comes from the inside.”
Print
