St. Baldrick’s Advocate of the Month: Diana Toohey
This July, St. Baldrick’s Advocate of the Month is Diana Toohey, the mom of Honored Kid Ethan. From his mom’s advocacy on Capitol Hill to the $325,000 raised in Ethan’s honor by his local St. Baldrick’s events, his story has made a big impact. Read on to learn why Ethan is such a huge inspiration to so many people, including his mom, and why she speaks up for kids’ cancer research in his honor.
Ethan smiles while wearing his favorite green shirt, which was emblazoned with the words, “Team 2E” in honor of Ethan and his family. Kids at his high school wore the shirts at a fundraiser in Ethan’s honor on the day he died.
Diana Toohey travels to Washington, D.C., for Childhood Cancer Action Days, she calls and emails her legislators, and speaks up for kids’ cancer research whenever she can. She does all of this so kids with cancer get the treatments and cures they need to survive.
But there’s another reason she makes those phone calls and knocks on those doors.
She loves saying her son’s name — Ethan.
Shaving Our Way to $1 Million: A Sport Clips Partnership Update
In January 2016, we announced the start of an unprecedented partnership between St. Baldrick’s and Sport Clips Haircuts, which generously committed to donating more than $1 million over the next three years. Just a year and a half into our partnership, Sport Clips is taking childhood back from cancer in a big way.
A Sport Clips barber smiles while shaving a participant’s head during the Sport Clips partnership kick-off head-shaving event in Texas.
The people of Sport Clips are more than the talented hands behind the buzz, more than the conductors of the clippers, more than St. Baldrick’s beloved barbers — they are our partners in conquering childhood cancers.
A Kid on a Mission: Bodie’s Story
Meet 12-year-old Bodie Centore. He’s a six-time shavee, a team captain and a fundraising extraordinaire. He’s even written and performed an original rap (check out the video!) to help raise funds for children’s cancer research. Blown away by Bodie? So are we! Read on for more about this amazing kid, his creative fundraising and why he shaves.
Bodie rocks the bald after this year’s St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event.
For Bodie Centore, the decision was easy. He saw his cousin, Ian, do it and knew right away that he wanted to shave his head for kids with cancer.
That was in 2012, when Bodie was only 7 years old.
St. Baldrick’s Advocate of the Month: The Lautieri Family
Childhood cancer doesn’t just affect the child who’s diagnosed, it affects the entire family. May’s Advocate of the Month — the Lautieri Family — is fighting back. Read on for more about the family’s cancer journey with Honored Kid Grayson and why they continue to speak up and give back.
Grayson wears a hat emblazoned with his team name.
When Honored Kid Grayson Lautieri finished treatment in April, he was done with chemo, but he and his family weren’t done fighting against childhood cancer.
Team Abby in Africa: One Man’s Shave Across the World
If you’re committed to raising funds for childhood cancer research and supporting a kid, then you can make a head-shave happen anywhere — even another continent. Just ask Dr. John York, a virtual shavee and long-distance member of Team Abby!
Dr. John York with his fellow shavees in front of their base in Djibouti, Africa. From left to right: Dr. York, Captain James Black and Lieutenant Commander Christian Minshall.
When it came time to shave his head in honor of his friend Ambassador Abby and her family, Dr. John York didn’t give it a second thought — even though he was thousands of miles away.
In fact, on April 29, he was at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa, nearly 8,000 miles from the head-shaving event in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Blackhawk Network Pays It Forward by Fundraising for Children’s Cancer Research
What employees would donate their vacation hours to find cures for kids’ cancers? What about shave their heads? Or throw a big party to rake in funding for research? Blackhawk Network employees, that’s who! Read on for more about the company, its commitment to St. Baldrick’s and how they give back in creative ways.
Blackhawk employees shave their heads at the Benioff Children’s Hospital event. Photos by Terry Vanderheiden
Blackhawk Network is well known for being the company behind the gift cards we see at the grocery store and the ones we get on our birthdays. But Blackhawk is about more than just helping people both gift and pay easily — the company is also about paying it forward, especially when it comes to kids’ cancer research.
18-Year-Old Cancer Fighter Gives Back by ‘Painting the Town Gold’
When Todd Schultz shaved with St. Baldrick’s in 2013, he had no idea that just a few months later he’d be diagnosed with kids’ cancer. Read on for more about Todd’s diagnosis and how he’s raising awareness, plus vital dollars for research, as the founder of a St. Baldrick’s non-profit partner — Painting the Town Gold.
Todd Schultz is the 18-year-old founder of the St. Baldrick’s partner Painting the Town Gold.
Two weeks before his diagnosis, Todd Schultz was on the football field. The 13-year-old was a linebacker — strong, fit and ready to do what it took to keep the other team from stopping the ball.
He was lifting weights to get even stronger and acting as the umpire at kids’ baseball games. His hair was just growing back after shaving it with St. Baldrick’s in honor of a little girl he knew who was diagnosed with children’s cancer.
Todd was healthy, with his freshman year of high school just around the corner.
Then everything changed.
A Nurse With A Heart of Gold: Meet Peggy Schneider
It’s National Nurses Week 2017 and we’re celebrating by sharing the story of a pediatric oncology nurse who loves to give back! Meet Peggy Schneider, a longtime nurse and the volunteer event organizer (VEO) for the Helen Fitzgerald’s Irish Pub and Grill event in St. Louis. Read on to learn more about Peggy and why she’s dedicated the past 46 years to caring for kids with cancer.
Peggy (right) hugs her best friend and fellow nurse Mona, who had just shaved with St. Baldrick’s at Peggy’s event.
Longtime pediatric nurse Peggy Schneider considers it a privilege to care for kids with cancer.
“People often ask me, ‘What do you like about nursing? What’s your favorite thing that you’ve ever done?’ And, it’s working with kids with cancer,” she said, realizing that might sound bizarre to people, because kids having cancer is such a sad reality. “But I learn something from them every day. They’re amazing.”
But she does more than just care for kids with cancer as a nurse — she cares for them as a St. Baldrick’s volunteer event organizer too.
Making a Wish Come True: Father Honors Daughter With a Decade of Fundraising
Honored Kid Kylee was a little girl who made a BIG impact. Read on to learn how this 7-year-old with brain cancer inspired her dad to rally hundreds of people to shave their heads and fundraise for children’s cancer research over the past 10 years — and counting!
Kylee LeSourd squeezes a stuffed animal tight. She was a big fan of her stuffies and she loved animals.
It started with a little girl’s wish, riding on a penny she tossed into a fountain.
It’s been said that wishes don’t come true if you tell someone, but it was just too big of a wish to keep to herself. So she told her dad that night, “My wish is that no other kid gets cancer.”
When she was 7 years old, Kylee LeSourd was diagnosed with a brainstem glioma, which is a type of tumor that starts in a delicate part of the brain which controls everything from breathing to swallowing. That year, she watched her dad and her twin brother, Kasey shave their heads at a St. Baldrick’s event. She vowed that she would shave with them the next year.
Rodeo Queen Katie Perry’s Hairstyle Tips for Shavees [PHOTO ESSAY]
You did it. You just shaved your head. Feels pretty weird, huh? Your bald head is like Velcro — catching fuzz, sticking to your pillow and stocking caps. Your showers are lightning fast, which is awesome! But then, you catch yourself staring in the mirror. Slowly, but surely, your hair is growing back. What do you do with it? Don’t fear, fellow shavee Katie Perry is here to provide you with hairstyle tips!
For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Katie Perry and I shaved my head on December 20, 2014 at my local St. Baldrick’s event. It was my last appearance as Miss Rodeo Illinois and I wouldn’t have changed this entire experience for the world.
Read about Katie’s shave and her life as a Rodeo Queen >
I had tons of long, beautiful locks that were cut off, shaved and gone in an instant — just like kids with cancer, but of course they don’t have a choice in the matter.
To be honest, it was a difficult transition for me, but I’ve got some advice for y’all, which hopefully will make it easier for you!
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