$90,000 Raised By Shaving Heads

St. Baldrick's Day is known by most people in this area and many of them contribute either by having their heads shaved and collecting donations or making a contributions. Barr Middle School Teacher Vinny Garrison does both. He shaved his head this past St. Baldrick's Day as he has done in the past and helped out as a volunteer organizer of the event.

He is proud of what the event has achieved and the $90,000 raised so far.

"Our goal was $100,000," he said on Tuesday. "If all goes well we might reach that."

Overe the next three to five months Garisson expects more funds to pour in from companies that have matching contribution programs. He noted some of the corporations send out the matching fund payments every quarter or six months. 

As a volunteer lead event organizer, Garrison marked his 10th year of going bald for the St. Baldrick's Day Foundation at the Hennessy Center of Dominican College.  He exceed his personal fundraising goal of $1,000 by raising $1,565.

Participants like Garrison shaved their heads to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer, but more importantly, to raise money to find cures. The volunteer-driven charity funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government and donations give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. Garrison said there is at least one St. Baldrick's Day event in every state and many that take place in other countries.

"Cancer is such a terrible disease that affects so many people, especially little children," said Garrison. "St. Baldrick's Day brings people together that share one common cause, finding cures to all cancers that affect children.  As a father, the event takes on an even greater importance."

Garrison has been a member of Team Chance, which was created in memory of Chance Cosgrove of Pearl River. Cosgrove participated in St. Baldrick’s in 2008 and 2009 as a shavee. Tragically, Cosgrove lost his life in an accident while on a family vacation during the summer of 2009.