Central students shave it all for a cause

Calhoun, Mepham raise a total of $74K for cancer research

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Two schools in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School district hosted fundraisers for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation this March, raising a total of $74,000. The children’s cancer research foundation is known worldwide for its events in which participants raise money and have their heads shaved.

Calhoun High School in Merrick hosted its 11th “Chop Your Locks” fundraiser on March 21, and Mepham High School in Bellmore hosted its seventh event of the same name on March 22.

This year Calhoun raised $32,000 for the St. Baldrick’s foundation, bringing the school close to its total cumulative goal of $600,000, according to Joseph Bianca, a Calhoun special education teacher and coordinator of the St. Baldrick's fundraiser.

The school’s football team raised the most funds as a group, collecting roughly $6,000. The next-largest donations came from Merrick’s Smith Street Deli, which contributed $5,000, and the Rosenblum family, who pooled together $2,200. Ryan Rosenblum, a senior at Calhoun High School, has participated in Calhoun’s “Chop Your Locks” since he was in fifth grade.

“He’s just that kind of kid,” said Ryan’s mother, Donna. The following year he wrote a winning essay about the event for the district’s annual Keep-A-Merrick-A-Beautiful contest to follow the theme of “making a difference.”

Donna eventually joined her son in having her head shaved at the fundraiser. This year Ryan’s father, Charles, had his head shaved as well to accompany Ryan at his last St. Baldrick’s event at Calhoun. The family dedicated each shave to a member of the community who has been affected by cancer, including Jason Elias, a Calhoun English teacher whose father, Nick, has leukemia; Ryan’s friend Logan Strobing, whose father, Howard, recently died after a long battle with cancer; and Doug Smestad, a former Calhoun history teacher who died after his fight with cancer in the fall of 2015. “If this is something I can do to help, I will,” Donna said of her contributions to the fundraiser.

Mepham’s “Chop You Locks” began with a step-dancing showcase performed by members of the Schade Academy of Irish Dancing in Levittown. The school raised a total of $42,000 this year and $250,000 since the event began at the school. The largest donation of $6,500 came from “Team Guiliana G.” The group was formed in honor of Mepham history teacher Jacqueline Geller’s 4-year-old daughter, who is a cancer survivor.