Brave the shave to save lives
by Robert Yang | Oct. 13, 2020
Did you know your hair — or lack thereof — can change lives? On Sept. 29, 37 Hawaii volunteers gathered virtually to shave their heads to raise funds to fight pediatric cancer. The collective shave was part of the 10th annual Honolulu St. Baldrick’s event.
Volunteers shave their heads to show solidarity with pediatric cancer patients, and community members are urged to donate or pledge funds to a favorite shavee or team of shavees. All funds raised benefit pediatric cancer research by the University of Hawaii at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine, the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, and Tripler Army Medical Center. This year’s event raised a little over $37,000.
This year’s event became a total “do-it-yourself” experience captured live on Zoom. Around this time last year, the event was held at Ala Moana Shopping Center with volunteers getting their heads shaved on stage by professional barbers at Mai Tai Bar. It’s always a fun, memorable and, for some, an emotional time because many of the attendees know someone dealing with pediatric cancer. It’s also a great opportunity for people to connect, share stories and honor keiki for their strength and bravery in battling cancer. This year, some volunteers had family members or friends take on the role of “barber.” Others looked in the mirror and shaved their own head. People were buzzing heads in their living room, backyard or apartment balcony. By the end of it, everyone on Zoom was rocking bald heads.
Among the 37 volunteers was our own Customer Care Representative Aaron Pughes. “I’ve been doing this event for about eight years because I made a commitment to my friend’s daughter, Haley, who initially asked me to do this. I’m keeping my promise to her — plus it’s a worthy cause to support,” Aaron said. Aaron asked me to join his virtual event since he wanted to share the experience with others. He grows his hair out every year just for this event. Aaron also dyes it a different color. This year, he sported pink before shaving it off in his garage.
Hawaiian Electric and our partners at IBEW 1260 have been loyal supporters of this event. The company has been a sponsor for the event for at least four years and always encouraged employees to join if they can.
“Go donate! Cancer isn’t waiting for the pandemic to end. You can join the fight, shave your head, donate, share the story, do something…anything. Give hope to these kids with cancer who really need your help,” Aaron said.
The annual event was started by The St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The global nonprofit has been funding research and clinical trials in Hawaii for the last 13 years. The organization has been bringing in new treatments and methods to help local keiki and families, as well as providing grants to help update the infrastructure in our hospitals to provide better treatment. While their 2020 fundraising event has concluded, donations are accepted on the foundation’s website to help local pediatric cancer patients. Please consider donating at https://www.stbaldricks.org/events/hawaii2020.
As for me, I’m not sure if I’m ready to get my head shaved just yet, but I applaud Aaron and others for braving the shave for a worthy cause!
Robert Yang is a digital communications and social media specialist at Hawaiian Electric Company.
