This afternoon, 24 people went bald for charity at Nebraska Medicine.
It's the 10th year Nebraska Medicine has hosted a head-shaving event benefiting St. Baldrick's Foundation, a nonprofit benefiting child cancer research and awareness.
Among those under the buzzer today were eight women with long hair, including Sonja Norris, who donated her hair after it was shaved by her mother, Dixie, herself a cancer survivor.
Friday's event raised $16,000 for the foundation, "a volunteer-powered charity dedicated to raising money for lifesaving childhood cancer research and funds more in childhood cancer grants than any organization except for the U.S. government," according to its website. To date, Nebraska Medicine has raised $94,000 for St. Baldrick's.
“It’s hard enough for kids with cancer to deal with being sick, let alone looking sick without their hair,” says Mandy Arens, APRN, pediatric oncology nurse practitioner at Nebraska Medicine. “This St. Baldrick’s event is very near and dear to our hearts as we stand in solidarity with our patients and their families.”
Since it was established in 2005, St. Baldrick's has funded more than $203 million to support childhood cancer research experts around the world, according to its website.
