With the help of so many of you, my unofficial total raised for St. Baldrick's Foundation is at $10715! It was a personal record in my 5 years of doing this, bringing my grand total to $33,370! My total ranked 2nd out of 558 participants this year. And our event raised over $460,000! As you can see from the photos we took and have been posting, it was a great time as always at St. Baldrick's at Helen Fitzgerald's and a very moving experience. I was happy to have Shaun Sease join me this year and shave by my side. Good on him! We shaved with so many others (500+) yesterday to stand proudly bald beside kids with cancer, like honored kid Atticus Gwilliam, who I shaved for this year, that often lose their hair during treatment, but the true goal–to cure childhood cancer–will be accomplished because, while shaving, we raise funds for lifesaving childhood cancer research.

Many thanks to give... last minute donors, I appreciate you all, despite how waiting on some of you makes me uneasy. My lovely sister Sara Varagona Reilly and brother in law Chance Reilly know this so well but they always come through, down to the wire. And thanks to Teresa Plumley Sansoucie, Amy Vance, Kyle Lenzen, the man who, in person, helped push me over my record, Melissa Blount, friend since AOL, multi times donor each year, Susan Stewart, my very supportive godmother and big 2x donor this year, Lisa and Nicholas Reynolds, Lisa Haberstroh, 2x donor this year and worked out a barter for tasty Girl Scout cookies during this, Kelly Kerch, Chelsea Reagan, and Matt Pollihan, who brought his to the venue!

I love all of my donors and supporters, but big donors help so much! Some don't want to be named, but they know who they are and I appreciate them so much! I'm naming the rest -- The Strick Group Powered by Gershman, Rory Leach, the fans of World Wide Magazine, Shannon Lenzen, the 2x donor, godmother Susan Stewart, my wonderful and supportive parents, Sharon K Varagona and Buddy, Aaron Loste, Bill and Lisa Will Nass, Elizabeth Ehlmann, who gave, but also shared the crap out of my posts, Greg and Lisa Sharp Roggeman, Greg Meyer, Heather Patterson and family, Kimberly Intagliata and family, huge supporters year after year, Jason and Rachel Jones Robison, so great, Jason Larson, Kevin Modesto, Kim Nickless, Kristi Deneau Nailor, Alatiel Barragán, Laura Kupferle, Lisa Trachsel, Carla Akins, so supportive and a great megaphone across networks, Tim and Kate Day, always there big time since year 2, Pinnacle Real Estate Advisor, and Tracey Gunn Lowell!

Thanks to those that came out to watch the big shave: my parents, Bill and Teresa and their boys, wonderful to meet all of you and thanks again for doing all you can to support me, Denise and Gerry Gregory, thanks for giving and taking photos, Samantha Emily and Curtis Eise, thanks for the donations, shares, and photos!

I wouldn't have gotten started doing this without my RN wife, Shannon Varagona. And she puts up with a lot during this, as I'm trying different avenues to get people to give, or sharing all of my posts and hounding all of her peeps to give, giving big donations from her and my kids to push me along and in the name of so many different kids with cancer that we come across, but it has to be really difficult for her when she thought she married an Italian stallion yet has to live with and make out with grizzly Adams for a few months a year. For that, I love her. My kids are a big reminder of why I do this. I see them being beautiful, goofy, silly kids and know that every other kid deserves that as well. They help along the way with fundraising and came out to watch for the first time this year. Vivi seemed to especially enjoy herself, now calling me 'bald daddy.'

I know this is long winded and reads like an award speech. It is an accomplishment that does good, but it can't happen every year without the support of each and every one of you. Hopefully, along the way, if you didn't know, now you know some things about childhood cancers and why it is so important that we keep funding the research to cure these kids, but also to help avoid long term consequences that often occur from the harsh treatments to their still developing bodies. We owe it to these kids to keep pushing for progress, to save young lives, and to improve quality of life. Thanks again for joining me on this! I hope you will next year!