On Philanthropy

In 2006, I received a surprising email.  It was from a guy named Ian, a former employee of the Republic of Boulder, the microbrewery pub that I'd managed in Colorado.  He was soliciting donations for childhood cancer research.

I'd never heard of the charity before.  St. Baldrick's???  What was this all about?  Was it legitimate?  So I checked them out.

Since 2000, St. Baldrick's has been sponsoring events in Irish pubs on St. Patrick's Day.  Ok, I follow, but Baldrick's?  And fundraising in a bar?

Volunteers pledge to shave their heads in a show of solidarity with children who lose their hair to cancer treatments.  They aren't compensated, other than the generous donations and sponsorship of their friends, family, and co-workers.

Wow.  Cool!

I made a donation in Ian's name, and forwarded his information on to many of my email contacts.  But I remember thinking, you know, Ian's a guy.  And furthermore, he already had really short hair, kind of a rock-star spiky thing.  And he'd been in the military, so it was certain that he'd sported a pretty-close cropped (if not bald) style before.  And he worked in the service industry.  It's not so peculiar to find a bald guy working behind a bar.

Now, if it had been a guy with long hair, imagine the donations he'd get.

Or a girl with long hair....

Learn more about the history of St. Baldrick's by clicking here!






To donate to St. Baldrick's in honor of Stephen, click HERE!
See the blog post on "Binary Voting" for details on how to vote for or against my head shave!