Last year, to commemorate a dearly missed student at Somerset Hills School District, students and staff decided to host a fundraising event through the foundation of St. Baldricks. Campbell G. Hoyt, a beloved and missed student at Bedwell Elementary School, lost her five-year battle to Empendymoma – a brain and spinal cord cancer with no cure in August of 2014. She would have graduated last year with the class of 2024, but due to her battle with cancer, that was not made possible.
On Thursday, March 13th, the Flutterflies Club hosted the second annual St. Baldrick’s Head Shaving event. Twenty-seven shavees braved the shave, and around $25,000 were raised. These shavees were: Tyler Pace who raised $3,258, Will Candia, Tucker Gallagher, Rocco Parente, Greyson Meyer, Bodie Cook, Matt Falzarano, Sonny Liranzo, Peter Malleo, Nate DeNicola, Justin Simpson, Charlie Benegas, Jaykob Marquez, James Renz, Finn Osborne, Erik Annette, Chris Peterson, Ben Juth, and Jen Burlingame (a Mom/Community member of Bernardsville). As the night went on people kept donating even more money than expected. As more and more money was raised, more and more people were inspired. Eight more people stepped up on the spot to support the cause and shave their heads for a total of 27 shavees. These people included: Alex Vaccarro, Caleb Juth, David DePierro, Hudson Gershon, Jack Rutz, Jacob Tomasello, Jake Wieczorek, James Gallagher, Jordan Riley, and Peter Mathus (a science teacher at BHS). Peter Malleo ‘25, a shavee, who raised $1,345, said he shaved his head because of the “really good cause and opportunity to raise money for childhood cancer”. A total of around 200 people attended the event and it provided a great atmosphere. Green balloons lined the doors, music was blasting throughout the gymnasium, and raffle tickets to different local businesses such as Penguin Ice Cream, Golden Flower Nail Salon, and more were sold at the door. Over 100 students were in the student section waiting to see the entrance of the 19 shavees.
In 2024, in honor of Campbell Hoyt, the Flutterflies Club hosted the first-ever head-shaving event at Bernards High School in which $24,353 were raised, and 14 shavees shaved their heads. This motivating club decided to collaborate with St. Baldrick’s Foundation and history was made. Now, Mrs. O’Brien, an English teacher and an advocate for our student body, hopes “it might become an annual event at BHS”. This aspiration has become one of many for St. Baldricks.
St. Baldrick’s Foundation is the largest funder of childhood research grants and donates money raised throughout the world for childhood cancer research. The iconic head-shaving event started in 2000 when John Bender, Tim Kenny, and Enda McDonnell had a challenge to face: “How will you give back in return for your own good fortune in business?” (St. Baldricks Foundation). Bender had it: why don’t we propose the idea of people shaving their heads to promote awareness of childhood cancer? In 2000, the first St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event was held in New York City with the goal of 17 people shaving their heads and raising $17,000. Instead, 19 heads were shaved and $104,000 was donated to the Children’s Oncology Group.
Last year, two students discussed the idea of bringing the Flutterflies Foundation back to BHS. Lola Parente ‘25 and Sofia Parente ‘24, sisters with an inspirational idea, approached Mrs. O’Brien and proposed their concept. Only, they had another idea: to bring St. Baldricks to BHS. When they suggested the idea to Mrs. O’Brien “about having Flutterflies host a St. Baldrick’s Head Shaving event, [she] was excited because [she] always thought hosting one would be very fun. [They] signed up and the event took on a life of its own, driven by two very motivated young ladies.” This year, due to Sofia graduating, Ari Rosen ‘25 stepped up to help manage Flutterflies. These individuals have made such an impact on the school and town.
Not only are students and staff positively impacted by this fundraiser, but so is the community. St. Baldricks not only supports children with cancer but also the families that are affected by children with cancer. By bringing awareness to it, families can feel more comfortable that people can understand their situation. Also, raising money can help these families by helping the researchers above them research more into the child’s cancer type. Hopefully, this will allow the children to be cured of the disease or even more people and not just children to be cured or helped.
In regards to kids with neuroblastoma, a new discovery has been made with the help of donations from others that could transform their treatment. They found a “new immunotherapy drug candidate” to help fight neuroblastoma (St. Baldrick’s Foundation). They have also gotten further with research and new and upcoming grants. This goes to show just how much the St. Baldrick’s Foundation looks into childhood cancer and helps in as many ways as it can. St. Baldricks and other “[c]hildhood cancer advocates are making a big impact on Capitol Hill” (St. Baldricks Foundation). They have helped influence “Congress [passing] two major pieces of childhood cancer legislation, and the National Cancer Institute created a new childhood cancer initiative” in the span of three years (St. Baldricks Foundation). Overall, St. Baldricks Foundation has been extremely supportive with research for childhood cancer and with those who have childhood cancer.
According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, over 400,000 children are diagnosed with cancer a year. According to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, cancer is the leading death for American children, which kills 1,800 kids each year. Childhood cancer research is more important than ever to develop more effective treatments and improve cure rates, and now BHS is leading the way in the Bernardsville community to help this research move forward.
