Marble Falls teams sharpen barber’s razor for St. Baldricks, pediatric cancer research
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
MARBLE FALLS — Coy Guenter, a captain with Marble Falls Fire Rescue, laughed at the thought.
“I’ll do it,” he said with a grin. “If you raise more money than I do, I’ll let you shave my head.”Kade Walker smiled and nodded. At 3 years old, there’s a good chance it will be the youth’s first attempt at shaving somebody’s head.
“We’ll take some photos, but then I get to let somebody fix it up,” Guenter said after fully realizing what he just committed himself to.
But whoever works the razor April 13 at the Tree House, 806 Main St., Guenter, Walker and a group of other folks are glad to get their head shaved. It’s all for a good cause: the St. Baldricks Foundation.
“St. Baldricks raises funds for pediatric cancer research,” said Craig Lusinger, a probable shavee and organizer of the Marble Falls event. Lusinger participated in a St. Baldricks head-shaving event several years ago at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin. The event, the children it benefitted and the cause touched him so much, he decided to bring one to the Highland Lakes this year.
The concept is rather simple. People form teams of two, three, four or more. The team picks a name and then starts raising money. There is no real prize because all the teams and their members take a seat in the barber’s chair. Which is sort of the point.
“A lot of these kids go through cancer treatment, and they lose their hair,” Lusinger said. “By getting our heads shaved, we’re showing that we’re there for them, with them.”
The big reason, however, is the money. Guenter and Lusinger said the St. Baldricks Foundation is the second leading provider of funds for pediatric cancer research and treatment behind the federal government. According to the foundation, less then four percent of the National Cancer Institute’s budget targets pediatric cancer research. And in the past 20 years, only two new drugs have been developed for children’s cancer.
The St. Baldricks Foundation and people such as Guenter, Lusinger and Walker are trying to change that — one shaved head at a time.
Though he’s only 3 —well, he actually will celebrate his third birthday a week after the event — Kade understands the importance of St. Baldricks and the specter of childhood cancer, said his mother, Chea Nichols.
“The teachers at his (pre-school) say he talks about getting his head shaved and St. Baldricks,” she said.
Kade, who doesn’t have cancer, met several youth who did last fall when he and his mother helped out at a special deer hunt on a Llano County ranch. The youth hunters all suffered from one type of cancer or the other.
“Do you remember those sick kids,” Nichols asked her son. “Do you remember how you wanted to help them?”
Kade smiled, nodded and jumped into Nichols’ arms. He buried his head in her hair and laughed.
“He just wants to help those kids,” Nichols said. “I’m so proud of him.”
Donating is easy. Go to www.stbaldricks.org and put “Marble Falls” in the search window. It will pull up the Marble Falls event, its location, the teams and individual participants. People can select one of the individuals to donate money toward.
Nichols said she’s worked the social media aspect to encourage people to donate. And it doesn’t just take big donations.
“The smallest things you can donate, well, that all adds up,” she said.
People can also attend the actual “shaving” at the Tree House. The event starts at 11 a.m. with the participants taking the barber’s chair at noon.
Guenter knows he has his work cut out for him once word spreads that he and Kade are locked in a wager. But the firefighter is undaunted.
“I’m way behind right now,” Guenter said. “But I have time. Plus, my hair’s getting a little long. I need to get it trimmed.”
daniel@thepicayune.com