January 30, 2017 - Amy, Rosalie, Teddy, and I are packed and ready to leave the next morning to fly to Florida to visit Nana and Poppi at that condo. Vacation planned and not a care in the world. How quickly things changed. I get a call from my brother Jeff that his son, Jake, is sick and the doctor wants him to go to Children's Hospital for testing. A few hours late, I'm standing, in shock and holding back tears, in Jake's hospital room as I'm being told that my not even two-year-old nephew (just three weeks younger than Teddy) has acute. lymphoblastic leukemia. As I stood over a sleeping Jake and felt helpless and wondered what I could do to help him, my brother, and sister-in-law, one thing I knew I wanted to do was get involved with St. Baldrick's and helping fund cancer research.
October 14, 2017 - Our first "Shave Show" happened and Jake's Journey to Find a Cure was off and running.
Now, not even five years later, Jake's Journey to Find a Cure has raised over $125,000 through four events to help fund childhood cancer research. We are fortunate that Jake rang the bell when he completed treatment on June 5, 2020. We are thankful he is in remission. A big event was planned for last year, but the pandemic had other ideas.
So, that brings us to July 17, 2021. This will be the fifth years of Jeff's little "shave show" that started with four shavees. This year's goal is to raise $100,000 and have over 30 shavees.
Like all other children and adults in remission Jake's cancer battle is not over. A recent study shows that because of the treatments they had as kids, by the time they’re 50, more than 99% of survivors have a chronic health problem and 96% have severe or life-threatening conditions. A portion of the research conducted with money raised through St. Baldrick's is focused on preventing the lifelong damage that results from surgeries, radiation and chemotherapies given while young bodies and brains are just developing.
Kids with cancer and kids in remission need our support. That's why I'm shaving my head this year. The longest hair I have ever had and that I've become more attached to than before (and my wife really likes). But even if my hair didn't grow back, raising money for kids like my nephew is so much more important. Please help me reach my goal by donating or help our group reach our goal by joining us in shaving or attending the event!
