On Saturday, September 15, 2012, I'm shaving my head. Please give me a moment to explain why. The guys at the Shillelagh Club in West Orange have created a great tradition. Each year on the day that is halfway to St. Patrick's Day the Club hosts a fundraiser for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. A few dozen people get shaved that day, and friends and family donate money to the foundation to make sure we go through with it. St. Baldrick's is a foundation that funds childrens' cancer research. It is a highly rated charity (slightly higher rating than the comparable New York chapter of the Ronald McDonald House for example) that spends 82% of it's money on grants for research (and only 2% on administration). I began as a shavee on my 40th birthday. That night we raised some money and had some fun. At the time a co-worker's young daughter had just been diagnosed and the moment seemed right. Since that night in 2008 I've lived a very blessed life. I have three healthy children, a wife who gets more beautiful every year, and a great opportunity at a first class firm working with great people. I am the luckiest person I know-the luckiest person I've ever heard of, actually. And yet in the last four years I've spent more time with people who have been affected by cancer than in my whole life before that. It's a persistent nightmare of a disease. For those of us who think we can solve any problem someone puts in front of us it is not only painful, it is humbling and frustrating to learn of a friend's cancer or to watch a family member suffer with it. So here is something I can do to help a little. As brutal as it is to watch the cruelty and ruthlessness with which cancer attacks the people we love, it is horrifying to imagine that a child can suffer the same fate. But they do, and of course it happens at an alarming rate. So when the event came around this year it called out to me. Any money you help us raise will be a drop in the bucket, but with enough drops I guess a bucket can eventually fill up. Information about St. Baldrick's is at the link below, including details on where it sends the money we'll raise. I will truly appreciate any contribution you make. Of course it is tax deductible. Thank you for reading!