By SARI ZEIDLER
They were there with something to give.
On March 18 and 19, the schools took part in St. Baldrick's and Chop Your Locks, a charity event that Calhoun Principal David Seinfeld likened to a local cultural phenomenon, for which students and educators alike shave their heads or cut their hair to benefit cancer charities.
In Mepham's main hall, people made their way through tables of baked goods and raffle tickets festooned with green balloons and signs. Many people were marked with stickers that read, "shavee."
At the end of the hall, they funneled into the school gym. Over the thumping base of pop music and the laughter of friends, an emcee called for the first group to take their seats. Fifteen people plopped into a line of folding chairs in front of the crowd as hairdressers from locals salons pulled out electric razors and went to work on the shavees' heads.
The St. Baldrick's Foundation is an international volunteer organization that encourages people to shave their heads to raise funds for childhood cancer, in what can be an emotional and uplifting sign of solidarity.
Seinfeld said that the district first hosted a St. Baldrick's event three years ago, after former Calhoun lacrosse coach Peter Magnuson took part in one of he organization's fundraisers with his family. He brought the idea to Calhoun and the entire Central District embraced it, turning St. Baldrick's into an annual tradition.
"It's become cultural," Seinfeld said a few days after this year's event. "I mean, I was in the classroom today, and there were eight boys with their heads shaved in a class of 25."
More than 300 Bellmore-Merrick students and faculty members shaved their heads this year, raising an estimated $86,000 for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. And according to administrators at all three schools, donations continue to pour in. "It's a great event -- it really is," Mepham Principal Mike Harrington said, mentioning at the event that his own family had recently been touched by cancer. "You see all the compassion in the community."
Girls with more than eight inches of hair to spare "chopped their locks" for Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Campaign, which takes donations of hair and makes wigs for women who have lost their hair as a result of chemotherapy treatment. "I did it last year, and you feel really good when you do it," said Mepham senior Rachel Wolin, who helped organize this year's event but couldn't participate, because her hair was not yet long enough to donate again.
Like Wolin, many participants said that the success of previous events encouraged them to get involved this year. Mepham junior Jake Kolenberg, who had watched his friends go bald as a sophomore, said, "I didn't do it last year, so I really wanted to do it this year." As he waited for his group to be called, he added that he wasn't nervous about losing his dark blond hair. "I feel like it's a great cause, and you never know what's going to happen in your life."
Fellow Mepham junior Ryan Heller, a friend of Kolenberg's, admitted to being apprehensive about shaving his head in 2008, but decided to go under the buzzer again, saying, "Being that I've already done it, I feel a little bit confident."
Kennedy Assistant Principal William Brennen upped the ante, agreeing to wear a mohawk for a full school day if he raised more than $1,500 -- which he did.
The district's fundraising effort culminated in a walk-a-thon last Saturday, when students walked from Kennedy to Calhoun and then to Mepham to raise money for Camp Adventure, a week-long sleep-away camp held on Long Island every August for children with cancer and their siblings. As the Herald went to press, the district was still tallying the funds raised at the walk.
Comments about this story? Szeidler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
