Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida treats, on average, 90 children for cancer each year. In recognition of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, community supporters helped raise money for those children – by letting them shave their heads.
“You are brave! Time to shave!” resonated through the lobby of the Golisano Children's Hospital Friday as the sixth annual Clips for Cancer fundraiser kicked off its second and final day of head shaving for the year. Pediatric cancer survivors and patients were each given a set of clippers to give supporters a once-in-a-lifetime haircut.
The event was part of a pledge drive that supporters, called shavees, participated in to raise money for the hospital’s cancer fund, Barbara’s Friends.
The fundraiser was streamed live on YouTube.
“It is empowering cancer kids to have a moment of triumph,” Amy Frith, the senior director of Barbara’s Friends, said. “They didn't choose to lose their hair. They didn't choose cancer. But they get to choose to take this person's hair away, and they love it.”
The pledge drive opened just before September and will close on October 15. Pledges start at $5,000, and some are as high as $25,000. These donations are one way the hospital can ensure no family is turned away because of the inability to pay for treatment.
Alba Cuka, who is 13 and in eighth grade, is a current Golisano cancer patient. She shaved the head of Dr. Scott Caesar, a Cape Coral urologist.
Alba's father unexpectedly stepped on stage to take the doctor's seat. The father and daughter were both overcome with emotion as Alba prepared to give him a new buzzcut.
“It showed that, like, he cares and supports me,” Alba said. “It meant the world to me.”
Alba has been fighting childhood leukemia since she was diagnosed at age 12. In the beginning, she was getting therapy every week.
“It was kind of hard because, while going through treatment, I wasn't able to have all the social interactions with friends and going to school,” she said.
Alba has another year of treatment left, but she now goes in once a month. She currently attends Naples Classical Academy.
Alba’s father, Erind Cuka, said shaving his head was a no-brainer. “When I heard that a stranger was doing it, you know, the doctor, I’m like, ‘I can do it,’” he said.
He had some words of advice for other parents of children with cancer. “Just hang in there,” he said. “Trust me, it gets better. Because in the beginning, you think it's hopeless, and then you see that there's hope. And they’re getting better and better with treatments every day.”
Cancer survivor Diego Santiago, who is 16 and wants to be a zoologist, shaved the head of Barbara’s Friends advisory board member Ken Mack.
“It really shows that you've gone through a milestone in your life,” Santiago said, referring to beating cancer. “Like, you know, a person goes to you and lets you shave their head. That’s not a thing that, you know, a normal person does.”
Santiago was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2018 and went through about eight months of treatment at Golisano. Now in remission, his hair is long enough to wear up, but he said he lost it all during treatment.
“It was a really painful experience because it wasn't just me going through it,” the tenth grader said. “I had to see my mom suffer and, like, my dad as well.”
For the event, Barbara’s Friends paired patients with shavees who share some sort of connection. This is the fourth year Kadin Williams, a cancer survivor, shaved Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson’s head.
The two were initially paired because of the 11-year-old’s interest in being a police officer and Anderson’s former career in law enforcement. But their bond runs deeper than a yearly fundraiser. Kadin also held the Bible for Anderson when he was sworn in as mayor in 2020.
“Cancer is such a horrible disease,” Anderson said. “I don’t think there’s anyone around who doesn’t know someone, whether it’s a friend, a family member, a neighbor, that hasn’t been touched by cancer. And it’s horrible, but it’s even more tragic when kids are robbed of their childhood because of cancer.”
Anderson said getting his head shaved was a badge of honor. “My hair will grow back,” he said. “Some kids don’t bounce back from cancer, so having a shaved head for a few weeks is nothing compared to what these kids go through.”
Others who got their heads shaved were: Sanibel Police Chief William Dalton; Armando Llechu, Chief Officer of Hospital Operations and Women and Children’s Services at Lee Health; and Dr. Jamal Ksar, President of Florida Radiology Consultants.
Adults weren’t the only ones getting their heads shaved. Thomas Aaron, 11, let 4-year-old cancer survivor Libbi LeDuff shave off his long locks of hair. Thomas knows Libbi because his mother is her swim instructor.
Despite Thomas growing out his hair for three years, he said it was a great feeling to participate in something most people don’t get a chance to do.
“A simple thing that can have such a big impact is the best way I could describe it,” he said.
Thomas was inspired to participate after his mother, Anna Aaron, had her hair shaved by Libbi last year.
“It’s a combination of vulnerability and empowerment,” the swim instructor said. “For that split second, as the clippers touch your head, it’s almost like you’re there, and it’s almost like you’re sharing that with them.”
Aaron cleaned up Thomas’ buzzcut when Libbi was finished. She said she was proud of her son for growing out his hair for so long and then having it shaved off for the fundraiser.
“People put a lot of emphasis on how they look, and hair is a big part of that,” she said. “And to not have the choice of losing it is big, and that feels like it takes away your power.”
Dr. Theodore Spinks is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Golisano in partnership with Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. Spinks had his head shaved by 16-year-old Cali Trepowksi. Trepowski, who is cancer-free, was diagnosed with brain cancer eight years ago. She now aspires to be a neurosurgeon.
Spinks has helped bring programs to Golisano that parents and their children would otherwise have to travel for.
“I don't know how parents make it having to go to Miami or even St. Petersburg for care,” he said. “I have families who have to choose between working and taking care of their kid, and we all know what we choose.”
For Spinks, who was participating for the second year, the event was somewhat personal. His daughter was treated for a metastatic tumor at the age of 3. She has since recovered.
“One of the things that you see with these kids that were doing the shaves today, and a lot of the cancer patients that I deal with, is they realize how loved they are and how many people care for them and are there to help them,” Spinks said.
The fundraiser marked the first year the event was held without Barbara's Friends co-founder Frank Haskell, who died in July. Haskell created the foundation in honor of his daughter, Barbara, who died of cancer at age 36. Amazed at the bravery of children receiving cancer treatment alongside adults, her dying wish was that her parents do something to help children fight cancer.
This is also the first year since the pandemic that the event was held at the children’s hospital. The last three years were held in Great Clips salons – where only a few shaves were done outside business hours. Because patients receiving treatment have compromised immune systems, those children could not participate.
“I can't describe the feeling of being where the kids are being treated,” Frith from Barbara’s Friends said. “We have kids that are on active treatment with their IV poles, getting chemo that come down and watch this. And they realize that somebody is doing this for them.”
Great Clips is an annual sponsor for the fundraiser. Stylists from salons across SWFL volunteer their time to clean up shavees’ heads so they can leave with a clean buzzcut.
Will Leaf is the owner and general manager of seven Great Clips franchises, which he purchased last year. Leaf brought a donation of $5,000 to the event. He said he gladly resumed the partnership the previous Great Clips owner had with Barbara’s Friends.
“I took over a role that, you know, there were some big shoes to fill," Leaf said. "And the last thing I wanted to do was have anyone that I’m working with move backwards, and a part of that is these community events.”
Shy Dillard has been working for Great Clips for 15 years, and this year was her fifth time attending Clips for Cancer.
“Every year is getting bigger and better,” Dillard said. “And I think the more we put it out there, the more we can raise for these kids and their families.”
Raising nearly $250,000 of its $350,000 goal, Barbara’s Friends will continue to raise funds.
The next event is on October 20 at all local Mel’s Diners. From 6 a.m. to noon, anyone who donates $8 or more will receive a free pancake breakfast with eggs and bacon. All proceeds go to Barbara’s Friends.
“Philanthropy drives our pediatric oncology program,” Frith said. “But the awareness that we have this pediatric cancer program in our community and then what it does for the kids, you can't put a value on a child that is realizing he [or she] is not alone.”
This story was reported and written for the Democracy Watch program, a collaboration between FGCU Journalism and WGCU News. Gwendolyn Salata can be reached at gwendolyn.salata@yahoo.com.