THUNDER BAY - For 31 days, a group of women put the razors away and let the leg hair grow. And even though it made for an uncomfortable month, helping fund research into a deadly form of cancer made every day worth it.
“It was very long month,” said Jackie Ruberto. “February 1st didn’t come soon enough this year.”
Five years ago, Jackie and her aunt, Joanne Ruberto, organized Jan-U-Hairy, an annual fundraiser in support of brain cancer research after Joanne’s daughter, Natasha, lost her battle with the disease in 2012.
“The following November when Movember came about, my aunt and I decided to do something fun to honour Natasha and to bring awareness to brain cancer,” Jackie said. “We decided this little fun fundraiser would be a good way to occupy our time, have some fun, and raise awareness.”
Women collect donations and pledges to go the entire month of January without shaving their legs. Some women also collect pledges to go to work in skirts and even though it is part of the fun, it can also start a conversation about a form of cancer that is often overlooked.
“The research needs the funding and brain cancer just doesn’t get the media attention that some of the other cancers do,” Jackie said. “And doing something light-hearted and silly and fun at the same time.”
This year more than $6,100 was raised and donated to the Canadian Cancer Society on Sunday, which will be used to fund brain cancer research.
“At the beginning we were blown away,” Joanne said. “The first year, we raised more than $8,000. We thought we were going to raise $1,000. But then we were blown away and we kept on going.”
In the last five years, more than $30,000 has been raised by local women collecting donations and holding craft sales.
Joanne said she hopes the annual fundraiser will continue to grow and fund more research to develop new treatments and prolong survival time for those facing a diagnosis.
“The little munchkins, Tasha’s kids, hopefully they will be able to continue it,” Joanne said. “And I have seen some progress in the brain cancer treatments. People would have more research and that is what we want to happen.”
Joanne and Jackie said raising money for brain cancer research is an important aspect of Jan-U-Hairy, but at the heart of the month long event is honouring the memory of Natasha.
“We’re crazy for the month of January,” Joanne said. “In December, I need to get past December. But then January comes along and you get to be crazy and laugh and Tasha would be one to be really into it. She would just be rolling her eyes at us, but she would be into it.”
