Former Banner editor to go bald for fund-raiser

Editor:

There’s no such thing as a bad hair day when you’ve gone bald for a great cause.

Over the past 10 years, I have asked countless businesses and individuals in the community to dig deep as I have worked to raise funds for Hosparus and Relay for Life. 

Today, however, I am urging everyone to join the fight to eradicate pediatric cancer by supporting my participation in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s premier event.

St. Baldrick’s began in 2000 when three men turned their St. Patrick’s Day party into a fundraiser by shaving their heads in return for donations to pediatric cancer research. Since then, more than 106,000 men, women and children have had their locks sheared for the cause. 

This year, I will join their ranks.

Although the St. Baldrick’s Foundation is not as well known as some other organizations, last year the group raised more than $12 million for cancer research, providing grants to groups such as Louisville’s Norton Healthcare. 

This funding placed the foundation second only to the U.S. government in research dollars awarded, as doctors and scientists work to find a cure for the cancers that, combined, are the No. 1 cause of death of children in the United States.

As you consider donating to this cause, please consider how difficult cancer can be for adults who understand what is happening to their bodies; then think of how scary it must be for a young child to endure spinal taps, chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries. 

This year, an estimated 106,000 children worldwide will live that nightmare.

In return for your donations to the foundation, I will take my turn in the barber chair on Sunday, March 14, and go bald for a great cause.

If you decide to donate, please make checks payable to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Donations may be dropped off to Hilda Parrish at The Trimble Banner in Bedford or may be sent to me at P.O. Box 83, Pendleton, KY  40055.

You may also donate online at www.stbaldricks.org/participants/ypage/participantid/366484. 

For more information or to arrage for me to collect a donation, please e-mail me at baldforthecause@yahoo.com. Remember, all donations are tax-deductible. 

Thank you, and God bless.

Lorrie Kinkade

Trimble County