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‘Hosing down’ cancer: City firefighters shave heads to raise funds, awareness

Members of the Marquette Fire Department get their heads shaved in support of children’s cancer research and awareness. The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, in conjunction with Pete’s Barber Shop, has raised over $12,000 locally over the last few weeks to support the initiative. Several area police and fire units have participated in fundraising efforts, with MFD raising $4,068.57 as of Thursday afternoon. At left, Marquette City Fire Department engineer Ken LaMarre gets his head shaved by Jim Bissonnette, owner and barber of Pete’s Barber Shop in Marquette. At right, firefighter Brandon Cory gets his head shaved by cosmetologist Becky Croschere. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

MARQUETTE — Over the last week or so, local police and fire departments have been shedding their hair in support of children’s cancer awareness through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

Agencies such as the Michigan State Police, the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office, Chocolay Township Police and the Chocolay Township Fire Department have been partaking in the head-shaving fundraiser, which has raised over $12,000 locally as of Thursday afternoon, shattering its goal of raising $10,000.

It was the Marquette Fire Department’s turn to get in on the fun on Wednesday night, with nine of its firefighters stepping up to the plate for a clean trim at MFD’s fire station along Third Street.

Jim Bissonnette, owner and barber of Pete’s Barber Shop in Marquette, along with cosmetologist Becky Croschere, provided the trims for each firefighter. The trims were done inside the fire station’s apparatus bay.

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is a nonprofit organization that aims to lead the charge in conquering kids’ cancer. It was founded in 1999 and is the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants in the world.

members of the Marquette Fire Department pose before getting their heads shaved in support of children’s cancer research and awareness. From left, engineer Garrett Fuller, Lt. Kirk Vogler, firefighter Brandon Cory, firefighter Pete Windsor, firefighter Chase Stevens, relief engineer Ben Gardner, engineer Ken LaMarre and relief engineer Kevin Serkowski. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

The first St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event took place at a pub in the New York City borough of Manhattan in 2000, raising $104,000 across 19 “shavees.” Today, St. Baldrick’s hosts similar events across the nation and raises millions of dollars toward children’s cancer initiatives annually. Since 2005, the organization has invested over $306 million toward children’s cancer research

grant funding, according to its website.

According to volunteer event organizer Tim Eagan, St. Baldrick’s raises between $35 million and $45 million annually.

Eagan resides in Denver for half the year and in Marquette for the other half. He’s been involved with St. Baldrick’s for 12 years, and after seeing how successful the head-shaving fundraisers were in a major city like Denver, he decided to coordinate one here on the shores of Lake Superior.

“I live part-time here in Marquette and part-time in Colorado, and I knew having spent a lot of years in this community, they’re a very giving community and a very caring community,” Eagan said. “I knew if I started this fundraiser here, it would be a success. It was a goal of $10,000 for the first year, and we’ve met and exceeded that. It’s been great.”

Eagan added that the most significant difference in hosting the events in a big versus a small city are the number of participants, but at the end of the day, all of them are there to support a good cause.

Members of the Marquette Fire Department pose after getting their heads shaved. From left, firefighter Pete Windsor, engineer Ken LaMarre, relief engineer Kevin Serkowski, relief engineer Ben Gardner, firefighter Chase Stevens, firefighter Brandon Cory, engineer Dan Pruner, Lt. Kirk Vogler and engineer Garrett Fuller. (Journal photo by Ryan Spitza)

“The difference really is the amount of ‘shavees,'” he said. “Here, we’ll have about 30 ‘shavees,’ and there, you’re dealing with sometimes 100. That’s really the difference, but it’s the people that get involved with events like this … they really care. They care about the kids, and they care about finding cures for the kids. That’s why they’re here, and I bet if you asked any of them why they got involved, they’re going to say it was for the kids.”

That’s exactly why MFD firefighter Brandon Cory was all in for the fundraiser.

“It’s for a great cause,” he said. “It’s for pediatric cancer awareness. And cancer through any age is great for research, but definitely pediatrics. Most of the guys here have kids and that kind of touches home with everything, so we hopped on it and thought it was a great idea.”

Although Cory doesn’t personally know a child affected by cancer, he still felt participating in the fundraiser was a necessary decision, and an easy one, to support those affected throughout the nation.

“When we signed up to do it, we did it as a group, and we signed up individually for our own fundraisers within that group, and we’re actually able to sponsor a kid and everything,” he said. “I believe everyone kind of sponsors a kid throughout the nation. While we don’t know anyone personally, at least we were able to help out and sponsor a kid.”

Eagan said the MFD, in true first-responder fashion, jumped at the opportunity to participate in the fundraiser immediately.

“They were one of the first ones I got a call back from,” he said. “I made contact and one of their firefighters and paramedics reached out to me right away. They immediately said: ‘How can we help?’ And it wasn’t long that money was being donated, either as an individual, as a participant or as a team at the fire house.”

Katy Vogler, a senior client associate at Wealth Strategy Group in Marquette, which sponsors the Marquette County Police and Firefighters’ Fund, had a special connection to the event.

Vogler’s husband Kirk is a firefighter with MFD, and Wealth Strategy Group committed to a donation for every firefighter who shaved their head on Wednesday.

“We told the guys at the fire department that we would do $100 per guy that they could get to shave their head,” Katy said. “You can’t really beat helping out a kids’ cancer fundraiser. We all have kids at Wealth Strategy Group and we just thought it would be a good place to spend some of the money that we’ve raised from companies in the community. We just thought it would be a good idea.”

With nine firefighters shaving their heads, Wealth Strategy Group donated $900 to the cause.

The Marquette County Police and Firefighters’ Fund annually hosts the Police & Firefighters’ Ball, which was postponed this year due to COVID-19.

MFD has raised $4,068.57, followed by the dual team of Chocolay Police and Fire departments with $1,219.24. The Marquette County Sheriff’s Office has raised $1,167.05 while the Michigan State Police has raised $557.20. Local UPS delivery drivers also recently joined in on the fun, with its team raising $256.52 so far.

Similar events were previously hosted by various teams. Michigan State Police troopers had their heads shaved at Pete’s Barber Shop last Saturday, while Chocolay Police and Fire held an event of its own at the township offices.

Each participant was presented with a certificate of appreciation from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and those who shaved their heads also received a free St. Baldrick’s T-shirt.

Eagan and Cory said the first year was a success despite the circumstances of the pandemic. They hope for an even bigger turnout next year.

“It’s always awareness the first year,” Eagan said. “Next year, it won’t be strange to anyone and I expect it will probably double next year because of the fact that we were new this year and we won’t be new next year.”

“Hopefully next year we’ll have this again and we’ll be able to get out into the public and community more,” Cory added. “Just kind of keep an eye out for it, and hopefully we can raise even more money next year.”

For more information on the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and its initiatives, or to make a donation, visit www.stbaldricks.org.

Ryan Spitza can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. His email address is rspitza@miningjournal.net.

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