A contingent of children and adults will receive very short haircuts at Corning's All Saints Academy on Tuesday, March 23. That's when a fundraising event will take place for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a national organization that supports childhood cancer research.
The haircuts will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the gymnasium, with the student body looking on, as All Saints becomes "Bald Saints Academy" for the day. Set to receive shaves are Ryan Burns and Logan Walter, both fourth-graders; Michael Woglom, a fifth-grader; Tom Ketchum, physical-education teacher at the school; and Mike Brown, father of Ashley Brown, an All Saints second-grader who was diagnosed with a form of childhood cancer at age 6. Ashley has completed her treatments, and her scans currently show her to be cancer-free. Serving as shaver will be Matt Clarkson, an All Saints alumnus who is owner of the Market Street Barber Shop.
Donations may be made online at www.stbaldricks.org. Click on "Make a Donation," then select "Donate on Behalf of a Team." Type in "Bald Saints Academy" for the team name to receive a prompt to make the donation.
The inaugural St. Baldrick's event took place on St. Patrick's Day in 2000, which is why the foundation's name is a combination of the words "St. Patrick" and "bald." St. Baldrick's fundraisers now take place in nearly all 50 states.