'Bald Is Beautiful' at St. Baldrick's Event

Nearly 40 people went bald Tuesday night, joining about 46,000 others across the world in this year's quest to raise money to cure childhood cancer.

Organizers of the 10th annual St. Baldrick's Day event at estimated that the fundraiser brought in more than $40,000 for the charity.

The event began in 2003, when 23 people joined Redondo Beach residents Chris and Sandy Willson-White in shaving their heads in honor of the Willson-Whites' son, Zack. Zack had died of cancer years before.

Every year since then, the Willson-Whites have shaved their heads, and since the beginning, family friend Scott Theveny has been there with them.

"It's just hair," Theveny said as a stylist shaved his head. "It's no big deal. It just grows back if you cut it off."

Al Sears is a relative newcomer—he's only been doing this for six years.

Sears' son Aidan was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006. Eight months later, Sears decided to shave his head in solidarity with his son, who had lost his hair during chemotherapy.

"This is where I first shaved my head," said Sears, who had dyed his hair blue in honor of the occasion. With his son Aidan—who has been out of treatment for two years—beside him, Sears was the first of the "shavees" to face the clippers.

"This is my dad," Aidan said as he introduced his father. "He dyed his hair blue … for kind of no reason."

"Through your efforts of shaving … you've raised over $500,000. … That's $500,000 that's gone directly to fund research," Marc McCarthy, St. Baldrick's senior director of marketing and communications, told the assembled crowd before the shaving began. "The hair that you give up will do tremendous things."

Dr. Jerry Finklestein, an oncologist who runs the Jonathan Jacques Children's Cancer Center in Long Beach, also addressed the crowd.

The event "is more than fun," he said. "It raises money for children with cancer."

St. Baldrick's Day is truly an international event.

Before he moved to Redondo Beach last July, Joshua Kosnoff, 12, lived in Hong Kong, where he shaved his head three times in three years for St. Baldrick's.

"He only cuts (his hair) at St. Baldrick's Day, so this is four haircuts in four years," his mother Johnna Kosnoff said.

Joshua raised $1,500—his goal—for the event, his mom said.

He wasn't the only middle school student shaving his head. Joshua's friend Justice Segura had his head shaved, too.

"Justice, savor (your hair) while it lasts," Joshua told his friend with a laugh.

Gabriel Reynolds, who arrived with a very full head of hair, had "never had (his) head buzzed ever."

"That already feels so different!" he exclaimed as he felt his head after the shave.

Perhaps it was Karla Morales who made the biggest transformation. Not only did she shave her head, she also donated her ponytail to Locks of Love, an organization that makes human-hair wigs for children with permanent hair loss.

This wasn't even her first time participating in a St. Baldrick's Day event. In 2009, she shaved her head.

"Last time, I was in tears," she said.

Still, it appeared that the shavees were happy with their decision. In the words of Finklestein, "Bald is beautiful!"