Positivity: Firefighters go bald to beat cancer
A hair-razing event for a good cause in Grayslake, IL, north of Chicago:
Locks of hair were hitting the floor of the Byron Colby Barn Friday in volumes last seen when Delilah got hold of Samson.
Firefighters from across the county and beyond were going bald Friday evening in observance of St. Baldrick’s Day, an international event created to raise awareness and funds to help beat childhood cancer.
The local event, organized by the Gurnee Fire Department’s local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters, had exceeded its goal even before the head shaving began at 6 p.m.
By mid-afternoon Friday, the local effort had already raised over $28,000 in sponsorship funding, 141 percent of the $20,000 goal set by organizers.
Participants said the event is an eye-catching way to raise money for an important cause.
Grayslake Fire Department Lt. Joris Lillge said 17 firefighters from the Grayslake Department, including himself, agreed to go bald.
He said considering what childhood cancer patients go through, including baldness from treatment, an annual head shave was no big deal.
“We’re more than happy to go bald. We’ll be like them,” he said.
Lillge said Friday afternoon that he had been pulling his hair back for several days in an attempt to see what he would look like bald.
“My wife’s a little nervous,” he acknowledged.
….. St Baldrick’s Day is sponsored by the St. Baldricks Foundation, which raised more than $5.3 million for the effort last year. The majority of the funds were dispersed to the Childrens Oncology Group, made up of more than 2,000 childhood cancer experts working at 230 leading childhood cancer institutions in the U.S. and beyond.
