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Overcast St. Baldrick’s helps shave the day
The St. Agnes Parish Center was abuzz on Saturday as the annual St. Baldrick’s shave took over the building.
This year’s shave, the 14th annual shave in Rockville Centre, was bigger than ever. More than 200 shavees participated in the hours-long event and raised more than $250,000 — both of which were new records for the event.
The annual event is geared for families and features live food, raffles, silent auctions, activities for kids, free food and much more. But the star of the show is the parish center’s stage, where shavees line up to have their hair buzzed.
This year, Team Will Jack raised a staggering $32,845. The team was formed in honor of Rockville Centre resident Will Jack, 11, a longtime St. Baldrick’s participant who was recently diagnosed with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma, a type of liver cancer. The team was made up of 32 of Will’s friends and classmates who all had their heads shaved in his honor.
Will, who had participated in St. Baldrick’s for years, missed this year’s shave because he was undergoing chemo.
A few other local St. Baldrick’s celebrities took the stage to brave the shave as well. Doug Gonzalez, 14, who was battling cancer for years, had his head shaved this year as a cancer survivor.
Also coming to the stage this year was Kendall Curnuck, a 12-year-old village resident who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) when she was six, but has been cancer-free for five years. Though she didn’t have all of her hair shaved off, Kendall had two two-foot-long pony tails cut off and donated to Hair We Share to be turned into wigs. She was joined by her father, Kyle, an eight-time shavee who left the stage bald.
The annual event is organized and run entirely by volunteers: Dan Schaefer, John LaCava and Alanna Devine Bender put together the event this year. The food and drinks at the event came from George Martin Restaurant (which also underwrote the cost of the hall), Parmagianni, Front Street pizzeria, Gino’s, Brower Avenue Market, Busco’s Deli, Greek Town, Associated, Happy Hostess and Mother Kelly’s.
