Progressive Wednesday

Helping out cancer patients “just a hair”

March 22nd, 2007 by John Stuart

Kids can be mean. I know, not yours, but the rest of them can be. There are rogue boogers and newly sprouted pimples and bad hair-days that get ridiculed. This is the case from pre-school to high school, toddler to teenager. It may seem like few of these teenagers are dedicated enough to do something despite the taunts of others. Not Kelley Lenfest.

Kelley is a Junior at Lewiston-Porter High School in Younstown, NY. What makes her different? Kelley is shaving her head to help fight children’s cancer. The hair will go to a child who has lost theirs due to chemotherapy treatment. An the money she raises from sponsors will go toward finding a cure through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation was founded in 1999 by a group of co-workers trying to raise money for cancer patients. They got 17 people interested to try and raise $17,000 by St. Patrick’s Day at their local pub. Little did they know, their quest would lead them to raising $104,000 between them all. Today, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has over ten thousand volunteers and has raised over $8 million in 2006.

Where does the money go?

The largest St. Baldrick’s Foundation grants have gone to the Children’s Oncology Group, the world’s foremost childhood cancer research organization, consisting of 230 research institutions working cooperatively to find cures. Six fellowships have also been funded to encourage the best and brightest new doctors to pursue careers in childhood cancer research. And 26 other grants have been made to local institutions for research. See how your support helps.

Kelley has raised over $250 so far, but strives for more. If you have any extra cash lying around, please consider making a donation. Even if it’s just the two bucks in change that fell between the couch cushions, every donation helps. Her head gets shaved on March 25th, that’s this Sunday, so please help out now.

Here’s a link directly to her page. If you would rather just donate to the foundation, click here. Her friends don’t give her nearly enough support (me included), and that needs to change. So join me in sponsoring Kelley Lenfest and help make her self-imposed bad hair-day a little better.