Weekend Update -- on Friday! -- Week 3

I can't believe another week has passed already.

For that matter, I can't believe that it has only been three weeks that I've been actively fundraising.  It seems like it's been my full-time job for an age.  Either way... it's movie night, which means I'm going to be subjected to Toy Story 3 for the 182nd time (seriously, I don't even cry anymore), and therefore have the time to peck out an update.

Oh, how my Friday nights have changed.

So, what news do I have to report this week?

I received an email from the St. Baldrick's coordinator Dell Children's Medical Center event, and learned more about what will be happening on March 19th.  This is SO much bigger than I was anticipating!

My mental image was of a couple hundred people in a cafeteria/lounge area, with some Irish music playing, some makeshift "barber" chairs on a riser, and a few trays of finger foods.  But here's an excerpt from my email:

"The event takes place at the outdoor Healing Garden at the hospital, near the outpatient parking lot.  It is a large open area that can be seen by the patients.  The St. Baldrick's portion is the second half of the event.  The whole event is called The Childhood Cancer Fair and St. Baldrick's Event.  All of our patients and families on and off treatment are invited for a fair-type atmosphere.  The booths are done by different foundations and organizations that support childhood cancer patients.  We usually have about 500-700 people in attendance -- local firefighters will be there, and bouncy houses, dunk tanks, and fair-type food!  It is a blast and amazing when our patients are having fun and seeing all of us shave in honor of them!!  Patients come down from the hospital and enjoy the fun."

So please, Austin people, come to Dell (with your kids!) if you can.  It sounds like a great time.  We'll probably arrive around 11 so I can get checked in, and we'll stay as long as my littlest guy will tolerate not napping.  We may even drag along his stroller -- maybe, just maybe, he'll conk out in there.

FYI:  If it rains, the event will be rescheduled for April 2nd!

And please, if you or your child has a cough, cold, fever, or viral illness, STAY AT HOME.  You'll be missed, but some of these kids have such an impaired immune system from their cancer treatment, exposure to your sniffles could have very serious repercussions.     



In other news, St. Baldrick's NEEDS volunteer barbers for the Dell event.  At this time, they have only TWO signed up... and seventy-one "shavees."  A complication to finding barbers is that it takes place the same weekend as SXSW (that stands for "South By Southwest" for the uninitiated -- Austin's premiere annual music event).  I attempted to get one very high-profile local salon chain involved, but they declined.  Luckily, I have other leads!

If you happen to know a licensed Austin stylist who might be interested (and mention that their time is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!), please have them get in touch with Chandra, whose contact info can be found HERE!  Tell her I sent ya! 

Yep, all barbers must be licensed, for liability reasons.  Even though the level of skill shown here will NOT be necessary.

Here's what you've been waiting for!

My donations total $3404.  The website reads $101 less, but the check's in the mail -- the hubster secured the matching donation from his employer, and subsequently doubled his vote as well!  Don't forget to ask your employer if they match donations!!!

Where Does the Voting Stand?  
The spread has stayed constant:
     Yes, shave it!     = 149
     No, just a trim!  = 175

There were 5 abstentions.

Looks like I might not need to increase my hat budget after all....

I'm smiling in this picture!  You'll have to trust me on this one.

As anticipated, donations have slowed to a trickle.  I knew that they couldn't possibly have kept up the frenetic pace that they started off with -- I was spending nearly as much time sending off "thank you" messages as I was writing blog posts!  Keeping with the water analogy, though, please remember that every drop in a bucket will eventually cause it to overflow.  Please consider donating to the cause, no matter how little you can spare.  And please remember to pass this info on to your family and friends!

Thank you all again, and have a fabulous weekend!





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!