Imagine a child feeling scared and alone as they deal with having cancer. The struggle and fight within them burns as they hope for a cure and a better tomorrow. This is what St. Baldrick’s Day is about: raising money to help find a cure for childhood cancer and giving those children the full life they deserve.

The first St. Baldrick’s event was held at the annual reinsurance industry’s St. Patrick’s Day party at a pub in Manhattan. The goal of shaving 17 heads and raising $17,000 turned into 19 bald heads and $104,000 donated to fund the research of the Children’s Oncology Group.

Later on, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation was created to maximize the volunteer driven effort to spend as little as possible to raise each dollar to make sure that every donation would go to the best research to find cures for kids fighting cancer. In its first year as an independent foundation, St. Baldrick’s continued to grow, raising more than $5.3 million.

This is the seventh year that EGHS has been participating in St. Baldrick’s Day. Students who want to participate sign up through the St. Baldrick’s website, and those who raise $50 can get their heads shaved during their lunch hour. Those students who raise over $500 are called down to participate in the St. Baldrick’s Day assembly to have their heads shaved. Teachers will also get their heads shaved at the assembly.

Last year the school was able to raise a total of $31,000.

Students seem to be just as eager to raise money this year for their chance to go bald as well as their chance to make a difference and help a child in need.

Another popular fundraiser for St. Baldrick’s is Ballin’ For Baldrick’s, which is a basketball game, held on March 16, where teachers played against students. The entry fee of $2 automatically gave the people raffle tickets where they could win raffle prizes such as gift cards.

Joseph Bush, St. Baldrick’s Day’s staff event manager and social studies teacher, hopes for this year to be just as good as last year and would like to see the school raise even more money.

“We’ve gotten some great support in the last couple of years from teachers,” Bush said.

As of March 2, the school raised $8,000, and the goal for this year was to raise at least $20,000. There were also a total of 100 volunteers and 25 shavees. The St. Baldrick’s Day event will take place throughout today where students and teachers who raised money will get their heads shaved in the hopes of helping to find a cure for childhood cancer.

“It’s just a really great way to kick off spring break,” Bush said.