State College couple Tom Ring and Dawn Daugherty are friendly with two families that have young children who are fighting pediatric cancer.
“It’s tough to see that, especially at such a young age, and when you know everything that they’re going to have go through with chemotherapy,” Ring says. “No one should have go through anything like it so early in life.”
That’s why Ring and Daugherty went to Evolve Studio on Monday morning to have their heads shaved as part of the third annual “No Hair, Don’t Care” fundraiser to benefit THON. After the couple got out of their barber chairs, Daugherty ran her hands along her scalp and said she might consider keeping her head shaved.
“Do it,” Ring replied. “I don’t care. You look beautiful.”
Penn State student PJ Tatano says he started the “No Hair, Don’t Care” event in his freshman year to raise funds in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. He was inspired by a memoir he read, in which the friends and family of someone battling cancer shaved their heads as a show of support.
“I read that and I thought about THON, and I asked myself ‘why don’t we do that here?’” Tatano says. “I thought, ‘we could be heroes for these kids that have to lose their hair.’”
Since then, the event has grown more than Tatano could have ever guessed. Last year, the event raised almost $2,600 for THON. This year it became a THON-wide event, with 265 participants raising over $2,650, because some donated more than the suggested $10. One such donor was Penn State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Chambers.
Chambers stopped by Evolve Studio on Monday, where he smiled as a pair of clippers buzzed across his scalp. Other prominent Penn State figures — including men’s volleyball coach Mark Pavlik, men’s soccer coach Chad Duernberger, football coach Herb Hand and the Nittany Lion — also made an appearance throughout the day.
“I visited Hershey Medical Center recently, where I met a lot of parents and saw all these kids with cancer fighting the good fight,” Chambers says. “Seeing that really makes you want to be part of this, it makes you want to do some good.”
Ring and Daugherty say that their decision to get shaved together was meant as a show of support for their friends whose children are battling cancer. Both say they look forward to seeing what the kids have to say when they see their newly shaven heads.
“Watching what those families are going through gives you a deep desire to do anything you can for them,” Ring says. “It’s important to let both them know that we want to give them all the support that we can give.”
Penn State student Zane Geist was still adjusting to his new hairstyle on Monday afternoon. Though he participated last year as well, he says he’ll have to readjust to having his hair so much shorter than he’s used to.
“We can never fully understand the pain those kids are going through,” Geist says. “This is just a small way to try and show our compassion.”
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