Going bald to fight cancer
Nearly 200 people at a local power cooperative are clearing their craniums for cancer on St. Patrick's Day, hoping to help boost children's cancer research and exceed last year's fundraising event, which pulled in more than $90,000.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
- March 15, 2009
By Crystal R. Reid
originally published in The Bismarck Tribune
Nearly 200 people at a local power cooperative are clearing their craniums for cancer on St. Patrick's Day, hoping to help boost children's cancer research and exceed last year's fundraising event, which pulled in more than $90,000.
Their efforts have expanded beyond North Dakota's borders, too; they have plants in MInnesota and Wyoming that have taken on the chopping challenge, with employees ready to brave the shave for cancer research.
Employees at Basin Electric Power Cooperative will go under the razor on St. Patrick's Day for St. Baldrick's Foundation, one of the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising organizations for childhood cancer research. Since its 2000 beginning, St. Baldrick's Foundation has raised more than $34 million for the cause, shaving more than 46,000 heads in 18 countries and 46 states of the United States.
This is the second year the cooperative has hosted an event; last year, when employee Ted Cash approached Basin about the idea, it turned into more than $90,000 in funds raised.
This year, employees who've shaved before and are ready to shave again are working to beat that goal, and now more head-shaving rookies are stepping up to the plate.
"It's a very serious cause,"Cash said. "But the event showed you could have a lot of fun for a good cause."
Cash said he's ready to go back to having a naked noggin.
"It was the first time in my life I'd been able to wear my stocking cap,"Cash joked about last year's close shave. "It's a great 'do' for North Dakota."
Other groups took notice of last year's success and took the challenge, said Mary Klecker-Green, event organizer. She said local churches, engineering firms and even sports teams have signed up to bare their bald heads.
So far, the cooperative has raised about $50,000; Basin Electric also is contributing $15,000, Klecker-Green said.
"It took on a life of its own," said Floyd Robb, Basin vice president of communications and marketing support and a St. Baldrick's rookie. Robb isn't nervous about losing his hair, and he's raised more than $1,000 for the cause.
"(Childhood cancer)is not something you think about all the time,"Robb said. "Once you get involved in this, people start sharing stories." Some may feel like cancer always happens to someone else, he added, but a recent story about an employee's grandchild getting diagnosed with a disease similar to cancer hit home.
Robb also recently lost a friend to lung cancer.
"When you consider what people with cancer go through,"he said, "shaving your head is insignificant. But it hit home for me when a very good friend was diagnosed with lung cancer. "
Within a year, his friend had died. Robb said organizations like St. Baldrick's shows people that they can help.
The cooperative is honoring several local children who would benefit from the research, and shavees can honor a specific child as they collect money.
The event is at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Several heads will be auctioned off for shaving, as well as the noggins that are scheduled for a shearing.
And they're pulling it off at minimal cost, Klecker-Green emphasized. Several giveaways, including hats, T-shirts and sunglasses, are from the foundation, and the stylists' time is donated by the salons.
"It just kind of takes on a life of its own," she said.
Headquarters
1717 East Interstate Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58503-0564 USA
Phone: 701.223.0441
Basin Electric Power Cooperative will provide cost-effective wholesale energy along with products and services that support and unite rural America.
