(Left) A week before the event, I dyed my hair green after reaching a fundraising milestone. (Photo by Sarah Genter) (Right) I had a blast participating in the Norwich St. Baldrick's event, and I don't regret a thing. I'm sure I'll participate in fundraising next year, but who knows, I may even shave my head again! (Photo by Dustin Genter of 5th Dimension Photography)

On March 19, I “braved the shave” and swapped my locks for a bald head in support of children with cancer, as part of the annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraising event. The experience was unlike anything I’ve done before, and now I’m here to share my thoughts and, maybe, convince you to shave your head, too.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a nonprofit organization that funds grants for children's cancer research, all around the world. According to their website, they've funded more than $314 million in grants since 2005. In support of their mission, people across the globe participate in fundraising and head-shaving events, to raise money for the foundation and stand in solidarity with children affected by cancer.

Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking with the Norwich St. Baldrick’s Event Organizer Jamie Burchill, and wrote an article about the return of the annual event. As is common when I write about local charities and nonprofits, learning about St. Baldrick's and the Norwich event made me want to get involved.

I toyed with the idea of shaving my head, but honestly couldn’t make up my mind. I even began googling things like "should I shave my head?" and "what is it like to shave your head?" Eventually, I let it go.

A few weeks later, I learned about Team Bruce, a group of seven kids from Gilbertsville-Mount Upton School who raise money and shave their heads every year with their bus driver Bruce Zimmer. I had the opportunity to speak with a parent of one of the kids, and I was incredibly inspired by their story. She even sent me each child’s explanation as to why they participate in St. Baldrick’s, and that’s what finally tipped the scales. I was going to shave my head.

I didn’t want to go it alone, but with the event only two and half weeks away I was a bit late to the game. St. Baldrick’s allows a group of people to sign up as a team, and I saw a few officers from the Norwich Police Department had created their own team for this year’s event.

The next morning I stopped in to the NPD and asked if I could join them. Sergeant Matthew Roberts, who was designated as the team’s captain, was so welcoming and more than happy to let me join their efforts.

That afternoon I jumped on the St. Baldrick’s website and got signed up. I have to admit, I did feel a bit of trepidation before clicking “submit” and officially registering as a shavee. Now, I’m no stranger to doing drastic things to my hair. I’ve dyed it just about every color possible, tried out extensions, perms, and cuts of nearly every length and style. But buzzing it all off was something I had never even considered before.

But, there was no turning back now. I registered online and got to work setting up my profile, before sharing it to my Facebook page.

One of my favorite things about how St. Baldrick’s operates is that you can set a personal fundraising goal. If you’re part of a team, anything donated to your page also counts towards your team’s goal, which in turn counts toward the overall event goal. Since the event was so soon, I kept my goal low and set it to $150.

24 hours later, donations to my page surpassed $300. I couldn’t believe it! The support I received from my friends and family was incredible, and I even received donations from people I hadn’t met.

To keep the momentum going, I decided to increase my goal to $500. I also explored the St. Baldrick’s website a bit more. They have dozens of articles about fundraising, participating as a shavee, and how to customize your personal page and set goals and milestones.

Since I love dying my hair wacky colors, I added in a milestone at the $400 mark, and said if I reached that amount I would dye my hair green. In just a few days I passed the milestone, and dyed my hair a bright green that I was a little sad I’d have to part with in just a week’s time.

In that time the Evening Sun also learned that I had signed up to shave my head, and generously offered to match all the donations I received. I was blown away! By the week of the event, dozens of people had donated. Between the contributions from individuals and the Evening Sun, my fundraising total reached $1,127. While I was hopeful I’d raise a little money to contribute to St. Baldrick’s, I never imagined it would even come close to that number, especially not in just two weeks!

In the weeks leading up to the event, I also received several encouraging emails from the St. Baldrick's Foundation, as well as Jamie. I was grateful for these, as they kept me motivated and made me even more excited to shave my head. They also kept me aware of why we were all participating, and reminded me that what I was doing contributed to a very worthy cause.

Then, finally, the day was here. I dressed in green and bid my hair farewell before heading over to The Blarney Stone Pub for this year’s event.

The Norwich St. Baldrick’s committee had set a schedule for the shavees, and my turn was slated for just 15 minutes after the event began. It was intimidating, but thankfully it didn’t give me much time to be nervous!

Before I knew it, I was on camera with a barber’s cape over my shoulders, seconds away from going bald. As the event's volunteer barber Candy Holbert got to work buzzing off my hair, I was surprised that the first thing I noticed was how cold it was! My hair wasn't terribly long to begin with, but I hadn't realized just how much it insulated my head. 


Brian Burton, the longtime emcee for the annual event, kept me and fellow shavee Sergeant Matthew Roberts busy with questions and jokes, which made it easier to ignore the swaths of hair falling to the floor.

When I was just about done they gave me a mirror to check out my new 'do, and I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't look too bad without hair! I have a dent in my head, thanks to a run-in with a rogue kitchen cabinet that had fallen out of the wall when I was a teenager, and was a little worried it would be obvious now that there was no hair to cover it up. Fortunately, it's not really noticeable unless you're looking for it. Hooray!

The rest of the event was great. It was amazing to see how many people had stepped up to raise money and shave their heads. The entire room was abuzz with excitement as the Norwich St. Baldrick's fundraising total continued to climb and last year's record was far surpassed.

As a shavee, I even got a neat little goodie bag with a St. Baldrick's T-shirt, a few pins, and a beanie provided by Hero-Level sponsor NYCM Insurance. I will forever be grateful for the beanie, as it's been the only thing to keep my head warm over these recent frigid days! Another thing I hadn't anticipated: without hair my head is a lot smaller, and none of my hats fit very well post-shave.

It's been nearly two weeks since I braved the shave, and I don't regret a thing. There was definitely a period of adjustment, and I still sometimes grab a hairbrush without thinking, or squeeze out way too much shampoo to wash my hair. I still find myself absently running my hand over the velcro-like stubble on my scalp. The first few days, I felt like I was forgetting something as I left my apartment for work, and then couldn't help but laugh when I realized it was my hair I thought I was leaving behind!

It's also strange to realize just how much I had relied on my hair as an accessory of sorts. While I'm not big on taking the time to style my hair, some days I would pin it back or add some type of product to add texture or waves. Without hair, I kept feeling like I needed to be doing something. The first week or so I spent far more time on my makeup than usual. Picking out an outfit for the day is not as simple as it once was. I've become obsessed with the state of my skin, as every blemish is now even more visible.

One nice thing, though: for the first time, I don't care about my gigantic eyebrows! I think they actually work in my favor, and compliment my close-cropped hair nicely. That was a relief, as I was dreading what I thought would be weekly trips to the beauty salon to wax them into shape, until my hair grew out enough to cover them with bangs.

I'm happy to say, too, that reactions to my new hair have been overwhelmingly positive. Lots of people have complimented me either on how it looks, or that I did it to raise money for children's cancer research. Lots of people ask me about it, and I'm always happy to share information on St. Baldrick's and the work they do. I've gotten lots of jokes on how cold I must be without hair to keep me warm, and fortunately, no one has tried to rub my fuzzy head without permission.

What always makes me laugh is the things people notice now, that they didn't notice when I had hair. I've had stretched earlobes for years, but suddenly everyone is asking about them. One man asked me why I did that, and thinking he meant my hair I began to explain the St. Baldrick's fundraiser. He cut me off and said, "No, no, I get that, it looks great. But why would you do that to your ears?!"

Despite the many unexpected changes that came along with shaving my head, I'm so glad I did it. It felt great to get involved in a community event, and even better to know that my small act would have a positive impact on others.

The entire experience has been exciting, and strangely liberating. I've become a firm believer that everyone should shave their heads at least once in their life. While I don't know where I'll be next year hair-wise, I'm already considering signing up to shave it off again.

Although the annual event has passed, you can still donate to the Norwich St. Baldrick's fundraiser until December 31, at stbaldricks.org/events/norwich2022. You can also select a specific team or individual to donate to! Donations to my page can be submitted at stbaldricks.org/participants/SarahGenter.