RHS Blows Away St. Baldrick's Goal

For the third year, they lined up, waiting for their turns to either go bald or have at least 10 inches of their hair lopped off.

The "shavees" did it in solidarity with kid with cancer — and as a way to raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which provides funding for research to find cures and better treatments for childhood cancers.

On Friday, 's team "We Baldin" shattered their three-year goal, raising more than $21,000, for a grand total of more than $55,000 since the team formed in 2010. The students were striving for the $50,000 mark, according to Detective Kelley Henson, the RHS school resource officer.

"I'm always amazed but never surprised at what we can accomplish when we come together," Henson told the crowd at Friday's St. Baldrick's event. "We've saving lives by giving money to the St. Baldrick's Foundation."

One of the event's honored guests is living proof of that. 

, 4-1/2, was one of the team's 2012 VIPs. In 2009, the tot was diagnosed with Philadelpha chromosome-positive acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), a particularly aggressive form of the cancer. In December of that year, big brother Jack became Gerald's hero when he donated bone marrow for a transplant. 

Sue Joy lauded the students for their efforts, saying St. Baldrick's donors and volunteers have contributed to "dramatic increases in the survival rate for kids with this rare type of leukemia." In recent years, Sue said, the cure rate has jumped from 20 to 70 percent, thanks to a new drug.

For the third year, RHS senior Jenni Welch and her family were recognized at the St. Baldrick's event. Jenni's little sister, Christin Mary Welch, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was just 10 weeks old. She died at the age of 15 months.

This year, Jenni honored her sister by participating in St. Baldrick's not as a "shavee," but by donating her hair to Locks of Love, an organization that provides real-hair wigs to children who lose their hair due to illness.

"It's for a good cause," Jenni said, explaining why she decided to get involved in this year's event. "St. Baldrick's is so big, and my family's been through a lot with cancer."

Jenni Welch also raised $1,100 for team We Baldin.

Another one of the team's biggest fundraisers, Madison Gaidelis, a sixth-grader at in Romeoville, also made a donation to Locks of Love. The middle schooler, who said she wasn't nervous before getting her her hair cut, raised $877.

Other top fundraisers for the team included RHS student Lauren Behl, whose sister, Sammi, lost her battle with a brain tumor. Lauren raised $540 for St. Baldrick's. 

Fellow RHS student Trystan Makowski was another fundraising champ, netting $525 for the cause.

In addition to soliciting donations on behalf of the team's 52 "shavees," team We Baldin also raised $2,300 at the third annual "Peg a Cop" dodgeball tournament, which pitted students against Romeoville, Joliet and Plainfield police officers. 

It's not too late to donate to the RHS St. Baldrick's team. To make a donation, click on the team's page on the St. Baldrick's website.