Safety officials shave for good cause

Officers, deputies and firefighters along with some citizens braved a shave on Thursday to support a cause to cure childhood cancers.

Each year, various law enforcement agencies signed up in advance of a St. Baldrick’s event to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

At the National City Police Department on June 23, more than 30 people representing six agencies participated in St. Baldrick’s Shave-A-Thon event.

Officers from the Chula Vista, Coronado and National City police departments, deputies from the county’s probation and Sheriff’s Department as well as National City firefighters participated in the event.

“This is my first time participating,” said Jorge Gonzalez, a supervisor with the county’s probation department. “I’m hoping to spread the word and see if we can do something good.”

About half a dozen citizens participated as well.

Student barbers from the Bellus Academy, a cosmetology and beauty school out of Poway, volunteered their time.

As of June 24, more than $7,000 was raised of the $10,000 goal.

To track the success, click here.

History:

The idea for St. Baldrick’s was born out of a challenge between coworkers Tim Kenny, John Bender and Enda McDonnell for how to give back in return for their success in business.

Bender came up with the idea to shave their heads for donations that would raise funds for kids with cancer.

The first event was held at Jim Brady’s pub and restaurant in Manhattan on March 17, 2000 during a work St. Patrick’s Day party. The goal of shaving 17 heads and raising $17,000 turned into 19 bald heads and $104,000 donated to fund the research of the Children’s Oncology Group.

Trevor Wigginton, 12, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at 3.5 years old but is currently in remission. This type of adrenal cancer is found in the developing nerve cells of the medulla.

There are more than a dozen types of childhood cancers and more children die of childhood cancer than any other disease in the U.S., with 300,000 kids worldwide diagnosed each year, according to st.baldrick’s.org.

When Trevor was diagnosed his survival rate was 10 to 20 percent. Today it is 50 percent.

He went through 18 months of therapy that included eight rounds of chemo, 10 rounds of radiation, a stem cell transplant, and six rounds of an experimental antibody before he was declared to have no evidence of disease in 2009.

His mother, Wendie Wigginton found out about the St. Baldrick’s and got involved with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation of San Diego, which was putting on an event to raise money for the cause every March.

Wigginton was the community chair, responsible for outreach for the foundation until her job moved her family to Texas in 2014.

Wigginton now organizes the shave-a-thon event each year in San Diego with the help of a designated representative of the hosting agency.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a charity that funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.