It's my 16th year with Team Space Monkeys! Last fall I was honored back in Las Vegas as a Crusader, and this year I'm proud to rejoin my friends to raise money for this very important cause.

Did you know that kids' cancers are different from adult cancers? It's true. And childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures.

Genetics gave me this sparkling personality, this adequate height, some above average powers of recall, and it also killed my dream to have hair like Stalin or Kenny Rogers. I spent a couple years raising money to lose the beard, and I can tell you horrifying, painful stories about what a bleach kit will do to a man's face, dermatologically. So these days I keep the beard and the hair stays gone, but my friends shave, and the cause remains important.

So here we go again. For those of you who are unfamiliar, here's the history of it.

Because of that balding situation I was searching for some sort of solution to look better. Then in 2008, I was at a Las Vegas Wranglers hockey game with my kids, and they announced there would be a head shaving event across the street to benefit the St. Baldrick's Foundation. I figured we'd raise a couple hundred bucks and have some laughs.

Fast forward to today. My friends and I have raised over $35,000 for this charity. The Foundation now funds more in childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government. And given the current economic uncertainty around the funding of scientific research, it's extremely important that this source of funding remains assured.

Now I need your help! Will you make a donation? Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and generosity.

James Lyden
Team Space Monkeys
Knight of the Bald Table, 2014
Knight Commander, 2019
Crusader For a Cure, 2024