St. Baldrick’s fundraiser in Rockville Centre seeks shavees and supporters

Shavees and supporters are wanted for this year’s St. Baldrick’s Childhood Cancer Research Fundraiser, which will be held on Saturday, March 24 from 12 to 5 p.m.

The annual Rockville Centre head-shaving event, in its 16th year, will take place after the village’s St. Patrick’s Parade at the St. Agnes Parish Center. One of many events nationally during which people gather to shave their heads and cut off their ponytails, it raises money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, which provides funding for life-saving research and treatments at hospitals locally and throughout the world in an effort to find cures and improve treatments for all childhood cancers.

About 1 in 285 children in the U.S. will have cancer before they turn 20, and worldwide, a child is diagnosed every two minutes, according to St. Baldrick’s website.

Last year, the Rockville Centre event raised $403,000 for the foundation, and $100,000 has already been raised in donations for the upcoming March 24 gathering — more than a third of the $300,000 goal. In 2017, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation garnered $37 million, and has now funded roughly $260 million for research since 2005.

This year’s event will feature live music from Jim McGrath and the Palace Trio, and includes food, a cash bar, raffles, kids activities and more. Those shaving their heads or chopping their pony tails of eight inches or longer will be admitted free.

For details, visit www.stbaldricks.org/events/rvcparishcenter2018, call (516) 697-6383, or email benderalanna@gmail.com.