Brave Warriors Shave Heads in Battle Against Children's Cancer

Photos by Richard Lewin Professional Photography,soniboy@aol.com.

EAST HAMPTON, NY - A group of caring supporters took a stand against childhood cancers Sunday in Montauk.

The group went bald, shaving their heads to support the St. Baldrick's Foundation at an event held at the parish center of the St. Therese of Lisieux Church in Montauk.

The Foundation works toward finding a cure for childhood cancers; contributors sponsored "shavees" by donating to St. Baldrick's.

The event was organized in the past by Simone Monahan; this year's organizers Maureen Kingston and Ellen Cooke took over the planning.

Official haircutters Pamela Loffreno and Nena Stuckart did the actual shaving; also present were Denis Shea, Noah Berkhofer, an annual "shavee", Gail Simons and McKenzie Simons rewarding Jonathan Simons and Dick Monahan, conducting with his sceptre before anointing his wife Simone.

A similar event is planned for Greenport for March as residents prepare to shave their heads for Sam, a five-year-old boy fighting cancer.

Recently, Greenport VIllage Trustee Jack Martilotta went to Heather's Place, a local hair salon, to take the plunge and shave his head for Sam Duffy, who was diagnosed last year with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Sam's mother, Holly Lanzetta, has embarked on a mission to create the “Sam’s Heroes” team, under the auspices of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, to conquer childhood cancers.

The community is coming together to help with the fundraiser for Sam’s Heroes, which will be held on March 26 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at First and South in Greenport.

The event is a “Shave-A-Thon”; Lanzetta and others plan to shave their heads to raise funding for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and Sam’s Heroes.

Her goal, Lanzetta said, is to raise funding to change the treatment of childhood cancers. “Those treatments are currently the last on the list to get funded.” she said. “Only four percent of all cancer funding goes to children.”

Currently, her son is enrolled in a St. Baldrick’s study, she said.

Treatment for childhood cancers

Pink ribbons are easily recognized as the symbol for breast cancer awareness, Lanzetta said. “But nobody knows gold is the color for childhood cancer. How come the Empire State Building is lighted up in gold for the Grammys, but not childhood cancer? Because nobody knows.”

Lanzetta has teamed up with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, ”to help in some way to make this better, for me, for Sam, and for the future families that will face this new way of life. I have started a St. Baldrick’s head shaving event in my lovely town of Greenport, to raise awareness and fund research for kids’ cancer.”

Additional reporting by Richard Lewin.