My name is Riley Dougherty and I am a 13-year-old 8th grader who attends Richard M. Teitelman school in Lower Township and on April 18th I will be shaving my head along with the other students and staff of Lower Cape May Regional High School to raise money and bring awareness to Childhood cancer. My experience with St. Baldrick’s actually started 5 years ago when my sister Kaitlyn Dougherty shaved her head for St. Baldrick’s and at the time I truly didn’t realize why she was willing to do that, until I saw her on stage having her ponytails cut off by a 5 year old little girl who had cancer, and it was at that moment that I had decided when I was in the 8th grade I was going to shave my head for this great cause. So, after Christmas break I started talking to my teachers about St. Baldrick’s and asked them how I could sign up and I found out that my school was not going to be participating this year and I was devastated that I was not going to have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of my big sister Kaitlyn and do something amazing for kids with cancer. Yet, I am not the type of person to give up and take no for an answer, so with the help of my teachers I was given permission to participate with the students at LCMR and my dream that I started 5 years ago was going to happen.

5 years ago, my sister Kaitlyn said something that has stuck with me and I want to share it with all of you, so you can have a better understanding of why I am doing this. She said, “your hair doesn’t define you, your actions do” and at 8 years old I truly didn’t understand what she meant but now I get it…. we live in a world where young girls think that their looks define who they are, but we should live in a world where are actions define us. My mom always says, “Be the Change you want to see in the world” and I want to see a world where kids don’t suffer from cancer. I want to live in a world where families don’t have to watch love ones suffer in pain from cancer and I want to live in world where my actions count more than my looks. So, I am asking all of you to donate to help me reach my goal. If you can’t donate than I am going to ask you to please share my story on Facebook. Cancer has affected all of us in some way and I am going to honor my Poppy who has cancer for the 2nd time in 3 years by rocking my bald head proudly. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and I appreciate your support. I hope you can help me reach my $3500.00 goal.