I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! It's been five years since I've done this, giving my hair time to grow. I've met a lot of new friends in that time, that might not know our story, and how deeply I and those closest to me have been affected by this nightmare disease.

My best friend's youngest son, Kendall, was diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of leukemia just two weeks after his second birthday. What he, his family, and I went through over the course of the next four years as we fought this disease was an ordeal so filled with pain and fear and loss that I don't know how to tell you, but it was also a time filled with love and beauty; beautiful people that gave all they had to help us, and beautiful children with whom we shared the journey through childhood cancer. Those people and those children continue to need so much help. Your donation is more than money; it's hope.

Kendall died on July 31, 2011, having survived nineteen days past his sixth birthday, surrounded by those of us who loved him most. A big part of each of us died with him that day, perhaps the best part. None of us will ever fully recover. Nobody does from a loss like that.

So that's why I do this. If you help with a donation, even just a few dollars, my gratitude will be greater than you can imagine.