ELK GROVE, CA (MPG) - The parking lot at BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse off Laguna Boulevard briefly turned into a barbershop on March 23, offering only two options: a full buzz or a trim. The reason? To raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research.

The Get Bald at BJ’s event drew a strong turnout of community members who volunteered to shave or trim their hair in an effort to spark conversation about childhood cancer research and encourage donations.

The event is an effort of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a charity that has raised more than $365 million for childhood cancer research grants since 2005 through fundraisers such as “brave the shave,” which can be organized locally by community members.

 

Shavees are pictured getting the final touches for their clean-shaven looks during the fundraiser event on March 23 in support of childhood cancer research. Photos by Phillip Desmangles, Dez Vision Photography

For the first time since 2020, resident Tom Couzens brought the head-shaving fundraiser back to Elk Grove, where donors contributed money to support their favorite shavees going under the buzzer. Others participated as trimees, donating locks of hair to help create wigs for children.

The event benefits Keaton’s Child Cancer Alliance, a nonprofit that supports children with cancer and their families through emotional, educational and financial assistance while also funding research toward a cure. The family of Arya, a child supported by the organization, attended the event, which had more than 20 shavees helping to raise money for families like theirs.

Many participants shared their “whys” before undergoing the big chop.

“My cousin’s son had cancer; he fought it and beat it. So, that’s why I’m here today,” said Kerry Clark of Elk Grove Masonic Lodge No. 173.

Sacramento-based heating, air conditioning and plumbing company Bell Brothers brought 11 participants, the largest group of shavees that evening. Their drain technician Kalie McMurray initially planned to trim her hair but chose a full shave after a $500 donation was raised by the crowd at the event.

 

Arya, a child supported through the Keaton’s Child Cancer Alliance, helps shave a participant’s head with the assistance of one of the volunteer barbers at the March 23 Get Bald at BJ’s event. 

A total of $20,000 was raised by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center through the March 23 event to fund pediatric cancer research.

Couzens told the Elk Grove Citizen he has participated in head-shaving fundraisers for the past seven years in honor of his late wife, who died of melanoma (a type of skin cancer) in 2017. He said the event was held in Elk Grove through 2019, was canceled due to the pandemic and later moved to Mulvaney’s B&L Restaurant in Midtown Sacramento, where it has been hosted since.

“Last year, I said, ‘Why aren’t we in Elk Grove?’ So, I decided to bring it back to Elk Grove,” Couzens said.

Couzens also chose to bring the event back to town to honor Lauren McCullough, a local teen athlete who died in 2014 shortly after graduating from high school following a battle with the rare childhood cancer Ewing sarcoma.

 

Resident and host Tom Couzens poses with volunteer barbers with a half-shaven look at the March 23 St. Baldrick’s Foundation head-shaving fundraiser at BJ’s.

When asked for his “why” for hosting the event, Couzens said it is a community effort to ensure children battling cancer feel seen and supported.

“We’re doing it because kids have cancer, they have to go through chemo and become bald,” he said. “People sign up to shave their head for childhood cancer research, and they get their friends, family and coworkers to donate and support their journey.”

For more information about the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, visit stbaldricks.org.