Alexa D’Ambrosio ‘17, Sonam Saxena ‘17: “Ask me why I’m bald,” reads a pin sported by Matt Lake, member of the technology department who currently supports the St. Baldrick’s foundation. The foundation, which collects funds for pediatric cancer research, has skyrocketed over the past decade. Lake’s was one of thousands of heads shaved at similar events this year. In his usual cheery manner, Lake relayed, “There was a lot of humor at the event: there’s no ‘St. Baldrick’ that I know of; it’s just a funny sounding name that emphasizes the fact we were all getting bald. We had a lot of fun afterwards pointing to people with respectable short hair cuts and calling them hippies! And I liked that scraping the hair off your head shows solidarity with people, especially young children with cancer, who have no choice about going bald.”
Lake shaved his head initially as a “conversation starter.” I hoped that people would ask, learn about the charity and maybe even decide to get involved or donate. He also hoped to comfort children, suffering from pediatric cancer, so that they would know they were not the only ones without hair. “Both my parents have gone through cancer and come out the other end well,” he commented. He simply wishes to help others who are still pushing through the painful process.
“A publishing group I work with in New Jersey has been an avid supporter of this event for 7 years. One of the editors, Mike Moran, formed a band that has played at the charity event every year, and he’s always been encouraging me to take part,” revealed Lake.
The charity was created by three Irish-American financial advisors who very much kept their Irish culture alive in the charitable organization. There was Irish music, dancing, and food during the event. Lake fondly recalled the day he was stripped of his hair. “The Great Shave started at about 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 21 at an Irish social club called ‘The Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh’ in West Orange, NJ. I was one of 51 people who sat down in front of a crowd of camera-toting families, all egging us on and cheering. We’d all raised at least $50 for the cause to earn our seats at the barber’s chair… and many of us had raised a lot more. It was the sheer number of us made the difference: the grand total for the event topped $51,000.”
Having “never have been very adventurous with hair,” and only having a total of three hairstyles in his entire life, this was a big leap for Lake. “People have reacted strangely,” Lake recounted. “I have even had people ask to rub my head. Even though having no hair certainly feels different, I liked the idea of doing something that felt uncomfortable for me, something that was a bit of a risk. And of course doing something that would raise money to help suffering families.” Despite the laughs at his new bald “hairdo,” Lake stressed the serious side of the event and how important contributing to such a crucial cause was to him.