Misty Lundeen and Crystal Rich PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

There was a literal buzz at Capt. Hiram’s during the 12th annual Brave the Shave to support the St. Baldrick’s Foundation which since 2005 has invested more than $342 million worldwide toward cancer research to find cures for all forms of childhood cancers.

During Brave the Shave events, shavees raise money and awareness by volunteering to have their heads shaved in a show of solidarity with children who lose their hair during treatment.

Frank Mannino, longtime organizer of Indian River County’s Brave the Shave events, said locally they have raised more than $1.2 million to fund childhood cancer research. Mannino, who has had his head shaved for the past 20 years, anticipated that this year’s event would take that number to $1.3 million.

“That’s pretty impressive for little Indian River County. Interestingly, we probably raised the same amount of money as our neighbors to the north in the much larger Brevard County.

The people of Indian River County have so much heart,” he added, noting that they had already raised $85,000 of their $100,000 goal.

This year, more than 40 people participated – some shaving imposing beards as well as their heads. In additon to providing the location for the annual event, Capt. Hiram’s contributed $1 to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation for every Captain’s Crush signature drink purchased in March.

Among the returning shavees was Cole McCarty, who has been shaving for 11 years. McCarty said he was moved to start when several people he knew were dealing with cancer. Since then, he has slowly enticed his four younger brothers – Timmy, Nathan, Owen and Anthony – to participate and this year, the five brothers shaved together, raising more than $1,000.

Casie Shimansky, who first shaved in 2018, the weekend of her wedding, was back at it this year with Team Live Out Loud. As the top team, they raised $20,000, bringing her individual and team total to an impressive $120,000.

Participants have their heads shaved on stage at the Sandbar, and in between, emcee Jose Rubio spoke with them and shared facts about childhood cancer, among them, that more children are lost to cancer in the U.S. than any other disease, and that worldwide, a child is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes.

In the 1950s, the majority of children diagnosed with cancer did not survive, but today, thanks to research, such as that funded through St. Baldrick’s, about 90 percent of children diagnosed with common forms of cancer will live.

However, there is clearly a need for fundraising events such as Brave the Shave, as only 4 percent of federal funding is directed toward pediatric cancers.

For more information, visit StBaldricks.org.

Photos by Joshua Kodis