News release from the Lutheran Children’s Hospital:
Lutheran Children’s Hospital Hosts Shave-Off Event to Support Children with Cancer
St. Baldrick’s Foundation Provides Grants for Childhood Cancer Research
Â
Lutheran Children’s Hospital and Fort Wayne Medical Oncology and Hematology will host a head-shaving event for St. Baldrick’s Foundation from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012. Individuals will have their heads shaved by professional hairdressers to show their support of children with cancer and their families. The event will take place in the atrium of the Lutheran Cancer Center located at 7910 W. Jefferson Blvd., on the southwest side of the Lutheran Hospital campus.“Great strides have been made in the care of children with cancer,” said Dennis O’Brien, MD, pediatric hematologist/oncologist, Lutheran Children’s Hospital. “The overall cure rate for children with cancer is approaching 75 percent with some cure rates as high as 90 percent. These gains could not have been made without this research, which is unfortunately an expensive undertaking.”
Childhood cancer takes the lives of one of every five children diagnosed in the U.S. St. Baldrick’s Foundation currently funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.
“I am shaving my head in order to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer and to raise money to find cures,” said Amy Truong, event organizer, medical student.
Lutheran Children’s Hospital supports families and children managing various types of childhood cancers from providing clinical outpatient services to emotional support through its child life specialist and programs such as this. September is childhood cancer awareness month and LCH provides quality pediatric oncology care close to home for many families in the region.
A handful of LCH nurses will also have their hair cut to be donated to Locks of Love, an organization that creates wigs for oncology patients. Some shavees have also raised money for St. Baldrick’s.