With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, bars are gearing up for the "everyone is Irish today" holiday by buying extra Guinness, corn beef, cabbage and of course, wings. Well, maybe that last one is a bit of stretch, but you catch my drift. As important as all those things are, bars are also getting ready to help raise money for children's cancer research by breaking out hair buzzers and shaving their way to a cure.
According to their website, the St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.
Two members of the Wingmen will be taking part in different St. Baldrick's Day events in New York and the following is part of an interview for Wing World Quarterly.*
I am sitting here with two members of the Wingmen, Jody and Steve, who will be shaving their heads in solidarity with kids suffering from all forms of cancer. They are doing this as part of St. Baldrick's Day events and I caught up with them the other night while eating some wings and I asked them a few questions about their charitable work.
WWQ- Hi Jody, Steve, how are you guys doing?
Jody- Good
Steve- Alright, how are you?
WWQ- I'm just fine, thanks for asking. So I was wondering, what made you guys decide to participate in such a worthy cause?
J- Truth be told, I really need a haircut. I knew about the event through Steve's participation last year, so I decided to grow my hair out as long as I could until March. I've done some charity work before and really like the atmosphere when people come together to help other people. It just seemed to make perfect sense to sign up for a St. Baldrick's event and they make it very easy to get involved.
S- I actually work with students at a local college and one of them decided to run one at the school last year. She asked me to shave my head. I said sure and low and behold, the day was planned and we were on our way to raising money for childhood cancer research. We pulled in just under $8,000 last year for the cause. Doing so well, there was no way I could refuse the challenge to beat last year's mark.
WWQ- When and where are you guys doing this?
J- I'll be taking part in the Hero Celebration at The
S- I'm taking part in Molloy College's event on March 7, 2011. I don't have a scheduled time for the day, I'll be going when there is time during the hours of 10 and 5pm. We have 19 shavees signed up, but we expect to have over 50 again this year. Molloy relies on a lot of walk-ins. They tend to see someone getting their head shaved, ask why and then donate some money for the "free" haircut.
WWQ- What are your fundraising goals?
J- I wasn't sure what to expect my first time out so I set my goal at $1,000. It seemed like a substantial but reasonable amount.
S Last year I set a goal of $500 and reached it pretty quick. I then upped the goal to $750 and raised $850. After doing so well last year, I decided to up my goal to $1,500.
WWQ- Have you reached it yet?
J- As of right now, I'm at $900, so just $100 shy of the goal. I've pretty much raised my funds in three separate bursts, each netting about a third of my goal. I have a little under two weeks to go so I'm hoping that one last push will bring me to my mark or beyond.
S- Well, my event is close, tomorrow close, and I am still not quite at my goal. I am currently at $1,381, just $119 more to go before the 7th. Just made my least plea to my friends an family, so fingers crossed.
WWQ- What is your favorite cartoon character(s)?
S- I am not sure how that's relevant?
WWQ- I am sorry, are you a reporter? Did you go to journalist school?
S- No, sorry, ummmm... Tom and Jerry. How about you Jody?
J- He-Man. Obviously.
WWQ- I must say, what you guys are doing is very commendable. Any final words?
J- St. Baldrick's has made this so easy and user friendly. If you're looking to get involved, head to their website and sign up. It's so simple and it really means so much to the kids. Seriously, go sign up right now.
S- There are literally dozens of bars, schools and other places running these events in New York. It is a great thing they are doing and I encourage everyone to get involved. Just the small gesture of shaving one's head can go a long way at helping a child with cancer smile.
The Wingmen serve as a reminder that it doesn't take much to do great things. They are just a couple of regular guys who have raised over $2,000 in the last few weeks for kid's cancer research. If you would like to help them in their efforts, you can do so by clicking on the following links:
Jody's event is 10 days away, donate here: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/jodyleggio
Steve's event is 1 day away, donate here: http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/steveo1
Don't forget, you can donate to the participants even after the events have ended.
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| Steve's Before Picture |
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| Jody's Before Picture |
*Wing World Quarterly is not a real periodical, but should be.
Excellent cause....great thing you 2 guys are doing. Can't wait to see your bald heads! And most of all, I hope in my life time a cure is found for cancer. God bless the children and you!
ReplyDelete~ Debby