Groups go bald for a cure
Teams pledging to go hairless have formed at MDU Resources, the NISC cooperative and KEM Electric, the University of Mary and Century High School, the Bismarck Bobcats and the Dakota United Soccer Club. Three employees of the Bismarck Tribune also are participating.
Dakota Gasification Company - March 7, 2010
Originally published in The Bismarck Tribune
Reported by Christopher Bjorke
Local companies and other organizations are encouraging people to bare their scalps to support cancer research.
St. Baldrick’s Day is a national fundraising event supporting research into childhood cancer. Participants gather donations with the promise to shave their heads on St. Patrick’s Day, in part to show solidarity with children who have lost their hair in their cancer treatment, but also to treat a serious cause with a light touch.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative became part of the effort three years ago and has since become one of the top 20 fundraisers for St. Baldrick’s worldwide. As participation in the event has grown, people at other local groups have joined the cause, totaling more than 100 shavees, according to Emily McKay, who organized the effort at Basin.
Teams pledging to go hairless have formed at MDU Resources, the NISC cooperative and KEM Electric, the University of Mary and Century High School, the Bismarck Bobcats and the Dakota United Soccer Club. Three employees of the Bismarck Tribune also are participating.
According to McKay, 83 cents of every dollar raised goes to support researchers studying cancer treatments. Basin has raised $225,000 in the two previous years. Groups also designate local kids who are being treated for the disease as honorees.
McKay, an event planner for Basin, started the cooperative’s involvement in St. Baldrick’s and wanted to shave her own hair, but recruited her husband instead.
“He said, ‘No, you keep your hair, but I’ll shave my head,’” McKay said.
Since then, the event has picked up momentum with the help of other groups contributing.
“We’re becoming a smaller portion of the overall event,” McKay said.
Anyone who wants to learn more about St. Baldrick’s Day can follow the link on Basin Electric’s Web site — www.basinelectric.com — or at the site for the national event — www.stbaldricks.org.
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