Airmen pay St. Baldrick’s $6,645 for haircut

Does a free hair cut sounds like a good deal? Perhaps it sounds even better when a free hair cut raises awareness and money to combat cancer in children.

Ninety-eight people volunteered to give up their locks to participate in the first St. Baldrick’s event June 26 at Donnelly Park. The hair raising experience tallied $6,645 for charity at the end of the day.

The event was organized by 3-year-old Josephine Beardsley’s parents, Heike and Tech. Sgt. Timothy Beardsley, 86th Maintenance Squadron. It also marked the second anniversary of Josephine being diagnosed with leukemia.

“Last year on this day, it was so hard. It hit us really hard,” Mrs. Beardsley said. “This year has been so much better. It was about us being able to do something to beat this.”

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a non-profit, public charity that raises money for childhood cancer research usually through head-shaving events.
These events have been held in all 50 U.S. states and in 28 countries around the world.

All of the funds raised at this and other St. Baldrick’s events are given back to the organization and distributed in the form of St. Baldrick’s scholarships, research grants, multi-institution grants and to research organizations meeting rigid criteria.
 
“This organization is important to us. This is our way of giving back,” Mrs. Beardsley said.

Family, friends, co-workers and employers sponsored the volunteers, who in turn shaved their heads to demonstrate their support to children diagnosed with cancer who typically lose their hair during treatments.

“At first, we were thinking small and said $1,000. Then, we got a lot of people interested. So, we moved it to $2,500,” Sergeant Beardsley said.

Two years ago while the Beardsley’s were stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., they noticed Josephine, whom they call “Josie,” demonstrated some worrisome behavior.

“At first, we were told that she had an ear infection and were sent away,” Mrs. Beardsley said. “Then the very next morning, she woke up and couldn’t walk.”

That was the beginning of what was to become a long and defining week for the family. For days, they were given diagnosis ranging from an infection to possible meningitis in the then 1-year-old Josephine’s legs.

After much persistence, Mrs. Beardsley called the base medical clinic and demanded Josephine be seen by the head pediatrician.

“We finally got a doctor who took us seriously and that is when we did the blood test and found out (the results) a half hour later,” Mrs. Beardsley said.

Today, Josephine is on the road to recovery. The event showed the Beardsleys an indication of how much support there is throughout the community.

“I like when things like this bring people together,” Sergeant Beardsley said. “All the active duty, all the civilians that work on the base … I am really glad that this event did that.”

July 2009 to July 2010 was designated as the Year of the Air Force Family, so this event is something that resonates with the Beardsleys.

“I think it is important that we are doing events on Air Force bases, because this should be hitting home for a lot of Airmen. (Josephine) is one of the community,” Mrs. Beardsley said. “We are not a single or unique case, but this is something that hits the Air Force as a big family, just as it hits other families out there.”

Military members, civilians and dependents sheared their locks in support of not only the Beardsleys, but to raise awareness throughout the community.

“He wasn’t even going to do it,” said Maj. Christopher Torres, 603rd Air and Space Operations Center deputy chief of operations, talking about his 7-year-old son Jacob. “But then he saw Daddy do it, and wanted to have his head shaved too.”

The owner and employees from Siggi’s Barber Shop on Ramstein volunteered their time to give the participants a new look.

“I like doing things like this. It is not only good for the cause, but it is good for us too,” said Claudia Estes, owner of the barber shop. “We had 98 people volunteer to shave their heads. That is great.”

Since 2000, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation has raised more than $87 million, hosted more than 3,200 head-shaving events and shaved more than 145,000 heads.

For information on how to get involved with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, visit their Web site at www.stbaldricks.org.