It’s that time of year…THE MARKIT 24 HOUR GLOBAL SHAVE!! For those of you that have contributed in the past, Thank You! And for those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about…just give me a few minutes. St. Baldrick’s in a nonprofit organization specifically dedicated to fight pediatric cancer. If you look at the numbers, they’re a bit staggering – only 4% of cancer research funding goes to childhood cancers. And with the average age of diagnosis for children at 6 years old, that’s not just a life, but a lifetime lost to this horribly unfair disease. As a corporate sponsor Markit has raised over $1,300,000 for the cause. Last year I had the privilege of being a shavee. It was especially fun as my wife Holly and youngest daughter, Bradyn, came to the office to watch me get my head and eyebrows shaved. Yes – a last minute donation came in for my eyebrows and fortunately they grow back fast. At that time I issued a challenge to have people pledge an amount per week prior to the 2013 Shave for every week that I didn’t get a haircut. Well, the time is here. Fifty-two weeks of hair is a lot!! But it’s been fun – every time I get a comment about my “wings”, it gives me the opportunity to tell people about St. Baldrick’s. And every time I look in the mirror and try to figure out what to do with my hair that day, I’m thankful that I can help in some small way. And there’s another piece to my fundraising. A few days after last year’s shave, Bradyn came up to me and said, “Hey Dad…uh, what do you think about me shaving my head with you next year?” I didn’t want to pressure her – a nine year-old girl with a shaved head gets a lot of stares. As school started this fall, the PE teacher at her school passed away after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. That same week a girl in one of the kindergarten classes was diagnosed with leukemia. Bradyn described it as a “bad circle of life”. But all she could think to ask me was when we’re shaving our heads. You can contribute and see more pictures at http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/StuandBradyn2013 .If you’re in Dallas, the shave is April 18th from 2-4 – feel free to come by. Thanks for your time and support.