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JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — For most children, getting a haircut is a big deal and usually includes tears that can only be stifled by the promise of a lollipop.
So imagine what it was like for a 5-year-old Juneau girl who had her head shaved in front of a crowd of onlookers at a downtown restaurant.
Luckily, Ansley Arvidson had some emotional support from the crowd as clippers ran through her blonde shoulder-length locks. She sat in her mother's lap during the cut, and her father was sitting to her left, getting his well-grown beard shaved too.
"Go Ansley!" someone in the restaurant Salt shouted, prompting cheers and applause.
The girl was one of 50 or so people who opted to go bald March 14 at Salt as part of the annual fundraiser for St. Baldrick's, a foundation that raises money for childhood cancer research, the Juneau Empire (http://bit.ly/1AOz99d) reported.
Ansley's mother, Krista Arvidson, said she couldn't dissuade her daughter from partaking in the head-shaving event after the youngster had heard about it from her sensei at karate class.
"She was very determined," Krista, 40, said. "She made up her mind to do it, and her dad and I talked to her about it, you know, that it would be a while before it grew back. And she said I'm doing it, I want to help the kids."
And so Ansley did — and she raised over $2,000 in the process. With all the individuals and teams participating, and with the help of three silent auctions during the event, the volunteers in Juneau raised at least $38,000 for St. Baldrick's, said organizer Robyn Long. Long said the final figures won't be available until a little bit later when everything's counted. The event was sponsored by Capital City Fire &Rescue and the Juneau Police Department.
While some opted for the full-on head shave, others got faux-hawks, trims or shaved their facial hair. Amanda Currin, 25, lopped off her long pony tail for the event and donated her tresses to Locks of Love.
"I'm sure it'll be an adjustment, that's for sure," she said, laughing as she ran her fingers through her new cropped 'doo. "But I wanted to cut my hair, and I thought. 'Why not this? Why not do it now?' It's the best cause I can think of."
For cancer patients and survivors and their families, the gesture means a lot. Ruth Kostik, whose 7-year-old niece Emily died from brain cancer a little over a year ago, said she was touched when her friends volunteered to be "shavees."
"It was really touching for me to have some friends who were willing to do it since you know I couldn't quite talk myself into shaving," the 36-year-old state worker said. "But to have some friends who were willing to shave really meant a lot, and my friends who just donated to support, as little as they can, to support our team, Team Emily."
Kostik noted her family in Minneapolis will be participating in a local event there next month as part of the "Minnesota contingent of Team Emily." The team Kostik started in Juneau raised $625 to support the cause.
Juneau began hosting the event after a 6-year-old boy from Juneau, Alex Cesar, was diagnosed with leukemia in April 2005. He needed a bone marrow transplant, but couldn't find a match. So his family hosted 10 bone marrow blood-matching-test drives in 10 days to find him a match. More than 1,000 people donated blood from the drives from across the state, including people in Anchorage, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Kake, Haines, Angoon and Skagway. The drives yielded two perfect matches, and one of them — from an anonymous 28-year-old man — was used in a transplant procedure. The transplant was successful, and Cesar has been in remission for almost 10 years.
On Saturday, Cesar sat with friends and family at one of Salt's tables wearing a Thunder Mountain High School ball cap. He turned 16 last week.
He watched as his uncle, Capital City Fire/Rescue firefighter Ed Quinto, shaved his head on stage.
"My husband has done it every year since," Andrea Quinto, Quinto's wife and Cesar's aunt, said. "I think he missed one when we were on vacation."
Quinto said back in 2005, one of the firefighters, Roy Johnson, learned of St. Baldrick's and thought it would be great event to host to show solidarity for Cesar.
"I had never heard of St. Baldrick's before," Andrea Quinto said. "It was all Roy. He wanted to do something more and this is what he found."
"We've participated every year since," she said.
She said Cesar will be cancer-free for 10 years on Oct. 17.
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Information from: Juneau (Alaska) Empire, http://www.juneauempire.com
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