2008 Woodie Awards
Men's hockey joins a new battle
Krysten Nicastro
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: News
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Cancer is the number one disease killer of children. Forty-six children, or two classrooms of students, are diagnosed every day, with its prevalence increasing every year.
The progression of research and treatment is the only hope for these children. Twenty years ago childhood cancer was almost always fatal, but through the advancements in diagnosis and treatment, 77 percent of the children with cancer can now be cured.
The men's ice hockey team will be taking part in the St. Baldrick's Celebration at The Field on March 9 at 7 p.m. These volunteers agree to shave their heads bald in order to raise funds for childhood cancer research.
The team is part of the local group, Team Brent, which honors three year-old Brent McCreesh, who was diagnosed with stage IV neuroblastoma cancer, as well as having four tumors and cancer in the bone marrow, in September 2004.
St. Baldrick's is a whimsical twist on St. Patrick's Day, generally taking place on or just before March 17, which has developed into the world's largest event for childhood cancer. This celebration was dreamt up in 1999 by a group of business executives in New York City, all of whom have Irish roots, who decided to give their typical celebration a little twist and help young children with cancer.
Since the treatment given to the children often causes their hair to fall out, the group enlisted volunteers to publicly shave their heads in return for pledges of financial support.
"The children are so brave to fight this disease and deserve all the help we can give to rid them of this awful condition," men's ice hockey captain Noel Henck said. "This organization has made head shaving a way to portray a message to the kids that they are not in this fight alone. Giving our hair is the very least we can do to hopefully comfort these kids."
"I think this event will open the eyes of many people because they will see our heads bald, which is pretty apparent. They will then question others about why we're like that, and they might support us the next year if they haven't already done so for this one," goalie Jason Smith said.