Bald is beautiful
Group to shave heads as part of St. Baldrick’s fundraiser
A group of city firefighters will shave their heads to raise money to fight pediatric cancer, part of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser.
WOONSOCKET — A group of city firefighters will soon have the coolest haircut possible for their line of work, right down to bald, as part of a bid to raise money for a foundation fighting pediatric cancer.
Pvt. Sean Newton, a six-year department veteran, came up with the idea of supporting the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a New York City-based organization that raises money for research seeking treatment and cures for pediatric cancer.
Newton is no stranger to the fight against cancer, having started out volunteering in his hometown of South Kingstown for the Relay for Life while still in middle school.
“Very early on I got involved with the American Cancer Society,” Newton said this week of his volunteerism that saw him become a coordinator of the South Kingstown Relay and later drew him an invitation to serve as a trainer for volunteers putting on similar events around New England.
His commitment to helping was rewarded in an unexpected way when his mother was later diagnosed with breast cancer and following treatment became a breast cancer survivor.
Now, as a firefighter, Newton said there are many times when he and other local first responders can make a difference in helping someone with a variety of life-threatening events. “We know the adversary and we know how to fix the problem,” he said.
But in the case of an illness like pediatric cancer it is not first responders who can make a difference but instead the doctors and researchers seeking to cure it, according to Newton.
And that is where fundraising events like the head-shaving challenges put on for St. Baldrick’s Foundation can make a big difference, too.
In the case of the Woonsocket Fire Department’s planned contribution, not only have a number of firefighters stepped up to participate, but also Chief Paul Shatraw, Newton noted. After deciding he wanted to put a team together, Newton said he made a pitch to the chief.
“He was definitely receptive and gave me the go ahead to do want I needed to do put this before the department members,” Newton said.
Newton also posted the plan on the Firefighters Relief Association Facebook page and on the page maintained by Woonsocket’s Local 732 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The first department member to respond was Pvt. Tom McGill and by Thursday Newton had eight department members signed to be shorn of their hair including Shatraw and he expects even more to sign up before the hair cutting event on Aug. 19 at the Providence Firefighter Union Hall.
“I think that shows the commitment of the entire department, that everyone, even the chief is getting involved and I think that is great,” Newton said.
“I think we are seeing such a great turnout of guys because they are saying we are going to do what we can to bring this to an end,” he said.
As part of the drive, the Woonsocket team, one of several Rhode Island fire department teams participating this year, has a donation page on the St. Baldrick’s Foundation website. St. The page can be visited at Baldricks.org\teams\Woon732,
and donations made directly to team members or the team as a whole. All of the donations will go toward boosting the Woonsocket team toward the $10,000 goal set by Newton.
“It is quite a bit but I don’t think it is unachievable,” Newton said. “I wanted to set the bar high.”
By Thursday the team had already collected $1,600 on the St. Baldrick’s website and the tally was still growing, Newton said.
Shatraw commended Newton for giving the department a way to help an important cause. “I think it is a great event that everyone would want to help. It is a great organization and it should be a lot of fun,” Shatraw said of his date with the barber’s clippers.
People interested in supporting the team can also make a donation in the name of a child currently fighting cancer or also in the name of a cancer survivor, according to Newton.
St. Baldrick’s started out initially in Manhattan when two insurance industry members, John Bender and Enda McDonnell answered a friend’s challenge to make a difference by putting on a head shaving event at local pub in 2000. The first edition had 19 heads shaved to raise a total of $104,000 for the Children’s Oncology Group in New York. The organizers faced a set back in 2001 when they lost many friends and coworkers to the Sept. 11 attacks, but decided to carry on with St. Baldrick’s and saw it become a foundation that by 2007 had raised $12.7 million from 18,000 shavees at 402 events across the country and abroad. Many of the participants are first responders, police or fire departments, or members of the military at home and on deployment.
Today St. Baldrick’s has raised a total of $230 million for research grant funding since the foundation was incorporated in 2005.
Newton said the participating team members will be helping the fight against pediatric cancer even after all the fundraising is completed and their heads shaved on Aug. 19.
“When we go out and people see us they are going to ask why I shaved my head,” Newton said. “I will explain that I did it for kids with pediatric cancer and that will get the awareness out there,” he said.