On March 22, the Iona community came together and saw members of its student body, faculty and staff shave their heads and cut their hair for St. Baldrick’s and Locks of Love. In the past, both causes have seen separate events on campus, but this year their planning committees brought them together to show Iona how much power can come from hair.
The St. Baldrick’s Committee, headed by Kirsten Knott, brought together the Iona Rugby Team, the Gaelic Society, Psi Kappa Phi, and Pipe Band. These four organizations joined sorority Delta Theta Beta, which puts on Locks of Love yearly at Iona.
By bringing these two events together, they were able to bring in more people and show what a large impact both have on cancer research and those who suffer from hair loss due to cancer.
In the Hynes Athletic Center, barbers from Spotlight were on a stage with chairs waiting for shavees and girls donating their hair to come forward. There was food donated from Blackboard, Smokehouse and AJ’s Burgers.
With the event starting at 7 p.m., it is no surprise that this food was gone within half an hour. There were also raffles with prizes such as gift cards to local restaurants.
For St. Baldrick’s, Iona’s goal was to raise $9,000. At a final look at the website, Iona raised $9,039. There were a total of 23 shavees signed up online, and even more stepped forward on the night of the event to shave their heads.
The highest fundraiser was Kara Nowakowski. With a goal of $4,500, she raised $5,490. As the only girl to shave her head, Nowakowski was the last of the night to go around 9 p.m.
Her brother Eric Nowakowski, an Iona College alum, attended the event to support his sister and shaved off the first section of her hair.
Prior to shaving her hair, Nowakowski cut it to donate her inches to Locks of Love.
“We had about ten donations of hair,” said Delta Theta Beta sister Sarah Lucas. “That hair should make many young girls happy.”
Delta Theta Beta saw the key to Locks of Love success was teaming up with St. Baldrick’s. They hope to do so again next year.
Shavee Andrew Hastings said, “I did this pretty spontaneously, and I raised about $850 in a couple of weeks.” Hastings was the second top raiser for Iona College and helped contribute to the Pi Kappa Phi team.
A new fraternity on campus, Pi Kappa Phi came together to participate in St. Baldrick’s, raising close to $1,800. Hastings said, “I feel proud about shaving my head, and it’s kind of a badge of honor.”
Both Hastings and Nowakowski, along with all other St. Baldrick’s and Locks of Love participants, will be sporting their new badges of honor in the coming weeks.
Through this event and the pride these students have in showing off their bald heads, Iona shows its dedication to helping those in need and making a difference in the world.
