Hello, my name is Andy, and this is my first St. Baldrick's event. A few months back, my God-parent, Ben asked me if I would like to raise money to help kids like me that have cancer. I really didn't understand what Ben meant exactly, but I really wanted to help; so, I asked my Mom to educate me on what I was getting into. She explained that I had an Uncle Brent (that I carry his name as my middle name) that passed away from cancer at the same age I am now, 8, after fighting it for years. This made me very sad that I never got to meet my Uncle Brent, and I thought about what it must have been like for him fighting all those years. If he was anything like my Dad, then I knew he was strong and very caring, and I wanted to definitely help other kids that were going through what he went through.
Unfortunately, my plans of selling Lucky Charms fell through because of leaving town for Spring Break, but I wanted to go support Ben at the St. Baldrick's event by helping sell raffle tickets and rooting Ben on to get his head shaved. On the ride to the event, my Mom and I talked again about Uncle Brent, what he went through and how he would have been proud for me wanting to help out at the event. After getting to the event, I got to see a bunch of people shaving their heads and donating money to help these other kids who need cures for their cancer. Soon, I had the overwhelming feeling that I wanted to shave my head too, not only to help kids like me who are going through something horrible, but also to honor my brave, Uncle Brent for his brother, my Dad, my Mom and grandparents. I didn't care about what kids might say at school the next day or about how long it would take for my hair to grow back. I just wanted to do this; so, as you can see from my pictures, I did. I raised over $1000 in just a few minutes to help these kids, and my family was very proud of me for honoring my Uncle Brent. The next couple days at school were really tough for me. People that I thought were friends were talking behind my back, pointing and laughing at me. I now know what kids that are sick or look different feel like when other kids tease them. It was really tough and made me pretty sad, but my Mom, Dad and family told me that they were still very proud of me for what I did. My newly shaved God-parent, Ben told me that he was super proud of me, to think about the wonderful thing that I did for the kids and honoring Uncle Brent and that I learned some great life lessons that night and next day. He said that I grew from a little boy that night into a young man. I know that my Uncle Brent is looking down at me from heaven smiling at my bald head and is so proud of me. I look forward to helping out more with St. Baldrick's next year.
I've answered the call to be a hero! I'm having my head shaved to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer, but more importantly, to raise money to find cures.
Please support me with a donation to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. This volunteer-driven charity funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government.
Your gift will give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. So when I ask for your support, I'm really asking you to support these kids. Thank you!
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