Saturday, February 7, 2009

St. Baldrick's

St. Baldrick’s began as a casual conversation between friends and has exploded into the world’s biggest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood cancer! In nine years, events have taken place in 18 countries and 48 US states, raising over $50 million, and shaving more than 72,000 heads.

www.stbaldricks.org

Please visit the website to find out how to volunteer, become a shavee, start your own fundraiser or donate.

Will you be shaving your head this St. Patrick's Day? If you have a page to donate to, please post in comments.

The CPD and CFD both have fundraiser events for this cause.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for making it a separate post!!! U are truly a blessing!!!

Anonymous said...

Michael Kelly for CFD is raising money for St. Baldricks..

Anonymous said...

The Day Shay Got To Play by EJ Nolan

Chush is a school in Brooklyn, New York that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career.

At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of one student delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son, Shay? Everything God does is done with perfection, but my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection?"

The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query. "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child."

He then told the following story about his son Shay: One afternoon, Shay and his father walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"

Shay's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shay's father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shay could play.The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay's father was ecstatic as Shay smiled broadly. Shay was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base. Shay was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?

Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay should at least be able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. One of Shay's team-mates came up to Shay and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay and his teammate swung at the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.

The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.

Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first. Run to first." Never in his life had Shay run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shay, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home.

As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shay run home."

Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."

"Never forget the innocence of a child" Please Donate to St. Baldrick's

56 Days to Opening Day !!!!

Anonymous said...

I couldn't cut the mustard as a chicago fire man but did manage to get into a small suburb. how can I participate.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
I couldn't cut the mustard as a chicago fire man but did manage to get into a small suburb. how can I participate.

February 11, 2009 2:08 AM

Go to the website and sign up to get your head shaved at any location of your choice. Raise funds by asking for doantions from people if you shave your head. It's truly a great cause. Or you can donate to someone else who is shaving their head, like me.

Anonymous said...

I am not the fund raising type , I have not had a hair cut since Oct of 2007 and my blond hair is very long and no bald spots either, so if anybody wants to solicit donations for me I will get my head shaved contact me at chuck.1964@yahoo.com willing to have my before and after pic used for future fund raising

Anonymous said...

Why Is Baseball So Much Better Than Football?

Before a baseball game, there are two hours of batting practice. Before a football game, there's a two-hour traffic jam.



Eighty degrees, a cold beer and a short-sleeve shirt is better than 30 degrees, a hip flask and six layers of clothes under a lap blanket. Take your pick: suntan or frostbite.




If you miss your favorite NFL team's game, you have to wait a week. In baseball, you wait a day.



Baseball has a drug problem comparable to society's. Pro football has a range of substance-abuse problems comparable only to itself. And, perhaps, The Hells Angels'.



In baseball, fans catch foul balls. In football, they raise a net so you can't even catch an extra point.


St. Baldricks
Donate to the cause !!!

52 Days to Opening Day !!!!

Anonymous said...

David Francis Dravecky (born February 14, 1956 in Youngstown, Ohio, United States) is a Christian motivational speaker, author, and former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres (1982-87) and San Francisco Giants (1987-89).

Not a White Sox player ... but a great inspiration to all ...



A left-handed pitcher, Dravecky represented the Padres at the All-Star game in 1983, his second season, in which he won 14 games. Equally proficient as a starter or coming out of the bullpen, Dravecky helped the Padres to their first pennant the following year.

In 1987, the Giants acquired Dravecky for their pennant drive. He went 7-5 during the stretch, and in the playoffs pitched a shutout in Game 2 against the St. Louis Cardinals and lost Game 6 by a score of 1-0. The Cards won in seven games.


The following season, a cancerous desmoid tumor was found in Dravecky's pitching arm. He underwent surgery on October 7, 1988, removing half of the deltoid muscle in his pitching arm and freezing the humerus bone in an effort to eliminate all of the cancerous cells. By July 1989, he was pitching in the minors, and on August 10, he made a highly publicized return to the major leagues, pitching 8 innings and defeating Cincinnati 4-3. In his following start five days later against the Expos, Dravecky pitched three no-hit innings, but in the fifth inning, he felt a tingling sensation in his arm. In the sixth inning he started off shaky, allowing a home run to the lead off batter and then hitting the second batter, Andres Galarraga. Then, on his first pitch to Tim Raines, his humerus bone snapped, ending his career.
To see a pitcher break his arm with a loud cracking sound while doing something as ordinary as throwing a pitch, then fall to the ground rolling in agonizing pain, was shocking, unusual, and upsetting, especially for those who had followed his touching story. The pitch was replayed on television repeatedly over the following days.

The Giants won the National League pennant in 1989 (defeating the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS in five games), and in the post-game celebration, Dravecky's arm was broken a second time by Kevin Mitchell and Kelly Downs. A doctor examining Dravecky's x-rays noticed a mass in his arm. Cancer had returned. Eighteen days later, Dravecky retired from baseball, leaving a 64-57 record with 558 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA in 1,062.2 innings. He won the 1989 Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership.


After two more surgeries, his left arm continued to deteriorate, and on July 18, 1991, less than two years after his comeback with the Giants, Dravecky's left arm and shoulder were amputated. Then he went on as a motivational speaker.

"When God wants to do an impossible thing He takes an impossible man and crushes him." - Alan Redpath

St Baldrick's
Donate to the cause !!!

51 Days to Opening Day !!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi 60655.
If you don't mind I'd like to make a shameless plug. I'm also partcipating in this worthy cause and if any of your readers are looking to donate witout losing their hair I'm willing to lose my hair for a good cause. I'd really appreciate any donations made to St. Baldrick's. All they have to do is go to www.stbaldricks.org.
Under "you can help" click sponsor a participant. Then click "donate to a particpant or team". It will ask you to put in the name, that's me Tim Smith, or a team, that's "The Fuzz". Click "shavee" and search. I'm the one from Chicago, there are others. Then click doante now. This is tax deductible and you can get a printable receipt immediately. So how about backing a local? Thank you in advance.
Tim Smith

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