More than 70 men, women and children gathered at Cricket Square, George Town, to publicly shave their heads during the annual Hannah’s Heroes Big Shave event on Friday 29 Sept., which raised US$192k for childhood cancer research.
Now in its 11th iteration, each year Hannah’s Heroes’ participants shave their heads in solidarity with children fighting cancer who often lose their hair as a result of chemotherapy. As part of the process, participants collect donations from the public.
“Amongst the freshly shorn were two parents of Cayman’s childhood cancer survivors: Gaylene Meeson, whose 16-year-old daughter Hannah was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 2012; and Woody Foster, father of 15-year-old leukemia survivor, Charli,” said a spokesperson.
In some cases, persons can opt not to shave their heads and either donate or collect funds instead. In other cases, teams of individuals also collectively raise funds.
“Teams included Cayman International School, who raised $29,574.84 after the Dart organisation matched funds during their inaugural school shave event ‘Be Bold, Be Bald’ held on campus at Camana Bay last week,” the spokesperson stated.
“Other top fundraising teams included Maples and Balder ($24,663), KPMG ($15,956) The Tortuga Rum Cutters ($12,050) and Foster’s ($8,609), who also held a collection at their registers throughout September collecting a further $5,000.”
Another notable team was The Firebalds, which comprised members of the Cayman Islands Fire Services, who are said to have successfully challenged the Cayman Islands Regiment and the police service.
Since its inception, Hannah’s Heroes has raised more than US$3million for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, making it one of the most successful shave events for the foundation.
Also in attendance during the event was Acting Governor Franz Manderson, who confirmed that the St. Baldrick’s Foundation would be a recipient of next year’s DG 5K event.
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