A Shear Success! St. Baldrick’s Day in Boston

With approximately 250 people in attendance, 22 ‘shavee’s and over $30,000 raised it’s safe to say we created a huge buzz in Boston. This event /fundraiser was especially successful considering we only had approximately a month to pull it all together. A little under 4 weeks to get the word out, rally together volunteers, acquire auction and raffle prizing, secure sponsors and cross our fingers that we could get people out on a Saturday afternoon and raise funds for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. 

The success in coordinating such a fruitful benefit becomes even more incredible when you consider we lost a week for St. Patrick’s Day, that most of the support teams had never met each other, the studen bodies that aided in promoting the event were away on spring break and almost all of us were in the middle of major work projects – goes to show what a little teamwork and people devoted to a cause can produce.

This cause crossed all demographic and social boundaries uniting everyone with a common aim of just wanting to make a difference. People that have never met working together as though they had done it a hundred times prior, a cause that turned strangers into instant friends, that students and business people aligning forces. It was truly ‘a coming together’, a sense of unity and community. A real unique element was to witness groups from other causes banding together and supporting the event. Men with Heart do an incredible amount of work in Boston to raise awareness and funds for the battle against breast cancer but were the first people through the doors at Dillon’s to show their support, help generate donations and help shave a path to the cure.

From a personal perspective, this was one of the most emotionally charged events that I have been fortunate enough to have participated in. I have attended or spearheaded literally hundreds of benefits or chartiable events over the years and although I am always emotionally invested, very few have me taking a ‘time out’. There were a number of instances during the day where I had to act like I was focused on tinkering with my camera just to create that opportunity to clear that lump from my throat. When Brianna Mccombs started to shed a tear after losing her locks, I had to look at the floor let the camera snap away and just hope I was capturing the moment.  When a little boy came out of the crowd to give Brianna a hug and a thumbs up, it was another `ahem` moment trying to keep that lump down. But when Brianna and her mom, Lisa were side by side in the barber chairs both making such an incredible commitment and show of support it was time to walk away for a moment – gulp!

Tears, laughter, hugs, smiles, cheers, a respectable amount of funds raised…and piles and piles of hair; what else do you need for a great event! Many thanks to Mike Anello, Ketel One, Sam Adams, all the incredible staff at Dillon`s, everyone who came out to support the event, those that were courageous enough to `brave the shave`and everyone that donated.

I am glad that I was a part of this event…I just hope my hair grows back or I will have the largest collection of Red Sox ballcaps in Boston.

To view pics from the event check out the Goodwill Travels Facebook Page.