THUNDER BAY – Const. Greg Stephenson says the first time he shaved his head for the Cops for Cancer event, his four-year-old daughter cried when he arrived home.
It didn’t dismay him.
Twenty-one years later, the president of the Thunder Bay Police Association is at it again, revving up to thin his already thin locks, helping raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society and, more specifically, paediatric cancer.
“It’s something we like to do,” he said on Thursday, launching the month-long fundraising campaign ahead of the May 6 event.
“People say I’m just cheap, I like to get a free haircut. Every year I have a goal I like to raise money for and it’s something from the start I’ve been involved in. It’s a great campaign.”
Stephenson said they’re hoping to raise $20,000 at this year’s event and he’s issued a challenge to other emergency service providers and law enforcement officers to take up the cause, collect pledges and have their head shaved at the event, which will be staged once again at Intercity Shopping Centre.
“We’re hoping to have other members of the emergency services and border guards and corrections involved,” Stephenson said.
“And members of the general public. Anyone who wants to sign up can go to www.cancer.ca and sign up online and get pledge forms.”
Maria Cabral, the Canadian Cancer Society’s regional manager for Northwestern Ontario, said the organization is grateful for their years of dedication to helping raise money for paediatric cancer.
“No one wants to see a child going through cancer. So when we talk about a head shave and it being difficult, it’s nothing, putting things into perspective, compared to what a kid goes through when they’re faced with cancer.”
Cabral added not a lot of services for children with cancer are offered at the local level.
“So we help to ship out the children, the transportation part, and with parents so they can seek treatment in southern Ontario. It’s really important,” she said.
