One week until Norwich St. Baldrick's annual fundraising event

The Norwich Police Department 2023 St. Baldrick's team. Team Norwich PD will return to this year's event on Saturday, March 16 at the Canasawacta Country Club, along with eight other teams and a total of 38 shavees. (Photo by Dustin Genter of 5th Dimension Photography)

NORWICH — The Norwich St. Baldrick's annual fundraising event returns this Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. at the Canasawacta Country Club, located at 261 County Road 44 in Norwich.

The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a global organization that aims to support research into treatments for childhood cancer. In 2023, the organization raised $23,028,376.

This year, the St. Baldrick's Foundation is celebrating its 25th year of fighting childhood cancer, and the Norwich chapter of the organization is celebrating with another in-person head shaving event. So far, the local event has 38 shavees and nine teams signed up, as well as several event support volunteers and fundraisers.

This year's fundraising goal is set at $50,000, and so far the Norwich fundraiser has gathered $34,337 in donations.

"A couple years ago we hit $50,000 even though our goal was only $30,000. So we’ve tried to extend that goal out and make it bigger than it has been," said Norwich St. Baldrick's Committee Member Zachary Wentworth.

"Part of that is we have a lot of great shavees, people who are doing this every year. But every year we have people that come and do the event that had their own personal stories and their own personal reasons for why they’re here," he continued. "It's the people that come in and have their own personal stories as to why they’re here that really kind of helps make a difference."

He said the event is finally back to it's pre-pandemic glory, with a large in-person event that is not only open to St. Baldrick's participants, but also their friend and family and the community at large.

The growth of the fundraiser over the past few years prompted the Norwich Committee to change venues from their usual spot at the Norwich American Legion Post 2782 to the Canasawacta Country Club.

"We’re going to have the new venue, try to be able to engage the audience more, get it back to kind of the pre-pandemic where we had people coming in and they had their families with them and we’re celebrating. We’re here to have a good time, do the fundraising, but also celebrate why we’re here and the cause," said Wentworth. "We really wanted to bring people together here and say, look, we’re back and we’re back to doing it in person, and we’re ready to go."

The Country Club has created a limited menu for the event, and drinks will be available for purchase as well. Although this year's fundraiser won't be livestreamed, it will be recorded and posted at a later date to the St. Baldrick's - Norwich, NY Facebook page.

Wentworth said they will also be honoring two local kids who have battled childhood cancer: William Linscott and Walker R.

"We’re going to be talking about their journeys and why this cause is important both to find that cure and also what it’s been able to accomplish," Wentworth explained. "We’re here, people have stories, people have family or friends they know that have fought cancer or have children that have fought cancer. It’s a celebration but at the same time, we have a serious cause here. We want to conquer childhood cancer."

There's still time to sign up as a shavee for Saturday's event, collect donations as an event fundraiser, or donate. To sign up as an individual or to form a team, visit StBaldricks.org/events/norwich2024. Wentworth said this year has several teams from local organizations and businesses, which he hopes to see more of in the future.

"We have nine teams right now, including a team from the Norwich PD, who will be back this year. It’s good to see some of our local organizations like the police department involved," he said.

"We’d love to see other community groups involved. Get a team together. Get your local fire department to participate or, say, the local football team, or anything like that. We’re looking for people to make this thing grow. Even if you can’t make this year’s event, be ready to try to get involved for next year. We want to have you here."

Thanks to the dedication of event participants, donors, and sponsors, the Norwich St. Baldrick's has been able to raise large amounts of funds to support childhood cancer research over the years. Wentworth said last year the local chapter was ranked 89 on a list of top 100 St. Baldrick's fundraising events across the country.

To donate, visit StBaldricks.org/events/norwich2024. Cash donations can also be submitted at Saturday's fundraiser, or given to a St. Baldrick's participant.

This year's Norwich St. Baldrick's fundraiser is supported by corporate sponsors NBT Bank, NBT Insurance, NCYM Insurance, Spence Curnalia Law Office, Mirabito Energy Products, and Principle Design and Engineering.

For more information on the St. Baldrick's Foundation, visit StBaldricks.org. More information on Norwich St. Baldrick's can be found at StBaldricks.org/events/norwich2024, the St. Baldrick's - Norwich, NY Facebook page, and and the StBaldricksNorwich Instagram page, or contact the Norwich St. Baldrick's Committee at StBaldricksNorwich@gmail.com or through the Facebook page.

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