BOULDER, Colo. – Like many men, a hair and beard buzzing is a rite of spring for Mike McGoey. But for Mike, it’s about more than function or fashion. He gets a buzz cut to raise money to help children with cancer.
“You might be sacrificing your hair for a couple months, but you know, in the end, you're impacting so much change for these kids,” Mike said.
Every spring right around St. Patrick’s Day, Mike and hundreds of other people in Colorado – men, women and kids – shave their heads for St. Baldrick’s, a foundation dedicated to funding research to find cures and treatments for childhood cancer.
McGoey had never shaved his head before his first St. Baldrick’s experience 20 years ago, but when he did it that year, he did it for a special reason.
“We were honoring a family who had lost their daughter to cancer,” McGoey recalls. “So being part of that group and being part of, you know, the opportunity to impact change on her behalf, felt really good.”
- To donate to Mike's St. Baldrick's Fundraiser, click here
- To find an St. Baldrick's event near you, click here
- To learn more about the St. Baldrick's Foundation, click here
A few years after that first jump, McGoey started helping organize the yearly shearings in Boulder. Along the way he got a few friends involved. Over the past 20 years, more than 4,000 heads have been shaved at St. Baldrick’s events in Boulder alone and $2.2 million raised.
“It feels awesome to impact change for the kids that are in hospital beds right now,” McGoey said.
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