Write a commentThe 2017 St. Baldrick’s Day in Oswego is less than three weeks away, and this year the numbers of volunteer “shavees” is down. Event organizer Dan Witmer wants to make one last call for volunteers to “brave the shave” and help raise money for life-saving childhood cancer research.
“Two years ago we had more than 200 shavees at our event, and right now we have just 70 registered. I’d like to see if we can make a push and get about 100 before the end of the day,” he explained.
Shavees can raise money individually or as part of a team; most choose to be part of a team, be it co-workers, teammates, family members, etc. “We have 16 fundraising teams registered so far, which is a little low but not bad,” Witmer said. “The problem is that the Oswego State men’s lacrosse team has a fundraising team of 33, including three coaches, which is great, but that makes up almost half of our total number of shavees. Team Sadie has 13 members, and they lead in fundraising so far. The other 14 teams are groups of two to four people.”
The Laker lacrosse team started the local St. Baldrick’s campaign in 2007, and this year’s team has taken its fundraising efforts to a new level. “On their own, they arranged a ‘St. Baldrick’s Night’ at YoBerry for Thursday, March 9, and another ‘St. Baldrick’s Night’ at Fajita Grill on Monday, March 20.” Last year the team raised just over $5,000 and this year they have set their own bar higher.
This year’s St. Baldrick’s Day in Oswego head-shaving event will be on Sunday, March 26, from 1-4 PM at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center, located at the Captain’s Quarters/Best Western Plus on East First Street in Oswego. In addition to the volunteer barbers and shavees, there will be raffle items and a silent auction.
“The event is two weeks from Sunday,” said Witmer. “There’s still plenty of time to get involved, register as a shavee, and raise money to help sick children. In fact, once you’re registered, you can access a ‘2 weeks to go’ tutorial on the website; the Foundation tries very hard to make it easy to raise funds.”
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To register as a shavee, to make a donation, or to learn more about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, go to www.stbaldricks.org. Witmer can also be reached at 315/529-5154 or daniel.witmer@oswego.edu.
