My name is Alexis and I work at Square Colour Salon and Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada. I’ve been working at this salon since September 2012, and learned about the St. Baldrick’s event in March 2013. Every year, I have participated by volunteering with my co-workers as a head-shaver, and every year, I have said “I want to do this”. This is the year.
St. Baldrick’s is committed to supporting the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. Even though I have never personally known a child who has experienced cancer, any community effort to find a cure for cancer or helping those that are directly affected by this awful disease, is effort well spent. I have known people who have lived with, survived and even passed away from cancer. This is why I am participating in the 2019 St.Baldrick’s fundraiser. On March 3, 2019 after raising a minimum of $3,000 I will shave my head to show support and solidarity for everyone who has been affected by cancer in one way or another.
When I was six years old, my mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I didn’t understand much at the time, but I did know that something was wrong. We kept going to the hospital, and I would sit there with my coloring book and crayons. Then I had to say goodbye to my mom because I was going for a sleepover. The next morning, when I went back to the hospital, I was so excited to see her but didn’t understood why she was crying so much. It ended with a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese, and within weeks we were back to our normal routines. I was one of the lucky ones. My mother’s cancer was caught early enough that I got to grow up with her, instead of losing her to this awful disease. I never realized it until much later in life, but I was lucky to grow up with my mother attending all of my swim meets, school performances, and dropping me off for my first day of college. Some people aren’t so lucky. Some people lose loved ones too soon, and they live with “what-if’s” and “maybe’s”….
Now I work as a hairstylist in one of the most motivating salons in the country, Square Salon. Unfortunately, my role as a hairstylist has even included shaving the heads of my own clients who have been diagnosed with some form of cancer. After my guest leaves, I cry in the breakroom because I am distraught that cancer has affected them and there’s nothing I can do.
ENOUGH. Enough is enough and we need to do whatever we can to help those who have gone through something so life-changing. I’m doing something now. I’m participating in the fundraiser and hope you’ll support me by donating. Help me raise my goal to help those that have been cancer.
