The entire El Paso Rhinos Hockey team and coaching staff will be shaving their heads to help raise money for the Las Cruces St. Baldrick\’s event. Fans will be able to bid on their favorite Rhino\’s hair to do the first \’swipe\’. Bidding will take place on www.elpasorhinos.com until the Rhino event date. Visit the Rhinos website to stay up to date and bid on your favorite Rhino. Bidding will finish Friday February 25th during the 3rd period of the Rhinos final home series against the Boulder Bison. Fans that win will then take the first swipe on the ice. All donations will be presented at the St. Baldrick\’s event in Las Cruces.
Click here to see the Rhinos St Baldrick\’s website.
How St. Baldrick\’s started in Las Cruces:
My wife Josie and I lost our son Kevin to Leukemia on July 19, 2003 after a year-long battle. Kevin was 13 at the time. We got involved with local fund-raisers (Brisket plates, etc.) for a few local families that we found out were going through similar situation as what we had went through with Kevin. in 2007 My Nephew Angel, who is a Firefighter in Albuquerque, sent an email to me requesting a donation on behalf of the St. Baldrick\’s Foundation. I had never heard of St. Baldrick\’s so I researched them to make sure they were legit and find out what they were all about. I liked the fact that St. Baldrick\’s is volunteer driven and that they operate with as little overhead as possible, allowing for the donations they collect going to actually funding research. I donated on behalf of Angel that year and then decided that organizing a local St. Baldrick\’s event was something that I could do also.
We held our first St. Baldrick\’s in March of 2008 and wound up raising over $18,000 while shaving 56 peoples heads – including 10 women, one of which was my mother-in-law Trini Mendes who is a 30 year survivor of breast cancer.
Our second event was in March of 2009. Our fund-raising was less than in \’08 ($13,000) but our shavees grew to 110.
Our third event took place in March of 2010 and we did not know what to expect because of the economy. Well, I am happy to tell you that we wound up shaving 159 heads and raising over $32,000.
We involve as many families of children with cancer, both survivors and those that have lost their battles, in our event and we try to make it a special day for those that can attend.
