Come and join me for the shave

If you see me out and about Rockville Centre or at a meeting in the next few weeks, I hope you will forgive my shaggy hair.

It’s getting long, and I know it. It keeps spilling over my ears and hanging low on my forehead. I haven’t been avoiding the barber, though, and it hasn’t been laziness or apathy that’s kept me away. In fact, I have an appointment scheduled to cut my hair: March 21.

In addition to being the day of the St. Patrick’s Parade, March 21 is also the day of the Rockville Centre St. Baldrick’s Fundraiser, which has been taking place after the parade for years now.

If you don’t know, St. Baldrick’s is a charity that raises money to help find cures for childhood cancer. Everyone who participates shaves their heads in solidarity of kids with cancer.

I had covered St. Baldrick’s in the past, but until last year, I had never participated. A few days before the event, all of the editors here at the Herald were in our weekly editorial meeting, and I mentioned that we would have a story about St. Baldrick’s in the paper. Our copy editor, Jim, said that no one from the paper had ever done it before, and that it would make a good first-person story. Then all the eyes in the conference room turned to me.

I like my hair. I like running my hands through it. In fact, before St. Baldrick’s, I had only ever had a buzz cut once in my life. But I knew it was for a good cause. And it’s only hair.

Last year I managed to raise $830 in just a few days. This year, I’ve set a goal of $1,000.

I hope that more people will participate this year. Last year, the RVC St. Baldrick’s event raised more than $187,000, which is just phenomenal. This year’s goal for the event is $250,000. You can get involved by going to www.stbaldricks.org and registering to be a shavee. If you sign up, convince a friend to do the same. Bother your friends, family and coworkers for donations (it’s for a good cause). Then come out and get your head shaved. You can donate to the cause by visiting www.stbaldricks.org, or find someone you know who’s a shavee and give them some money.

It’ll be the end of March, and hopefully warmer. It’ll be so refreshing to step out of the St. Agnes Parish Center and feel the wind against your head. It’s also a little weird if you’ve never had your head shaved before (and I speak from experience).